IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/bushst/v56y2014i8p1223-1242.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The history of entrepreneurship: Medieval origins of a modern phenomenon

Author

Listed:
  • Mark Casson
  • Catherine Casson

Abstract

The origins of enterprise are often associated with the Industrial Revolution, but this article presents evidence of entrepreneurial activities from a much earlier date - the medieval period. Between 1250 and 1500 the church, merchants and members of the royal court all engaged in activities that demonstrated the entrepreneurial characteristics of innovation, risk-taking and judgement. The activities of the prior of Tynemouth and the career of the wool merchant William de la Pole illustrate these developments. By focusing on individuals rather than firms, it is possible to push back the study of entrepreneurship beyond the Industrial Revolution and early-modern trade to a period that witnessed the origins of the modern state.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Casson & Catherine Casson, 2014. "The history of entrepreneurship: Medieval origins of a modern phenomenon," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(8), pages 1223-1242, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:bushst:v:56:y:2014:i:8:p:1223-1242
    DOI: 10.1080/00076791.2013.867330
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00076791.2013.867330
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00076791.2013.867330?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert B. Ekelund Jr. & Robert F. Hebert & Robert D. Tollison, 2008. "The Marketplace of Christianity," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262550717, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alessandro Nuvolari & Pier Angelo Toninelli & Michelangelo Vasta, 2018. "What makes a successful (and famous) entrepreneur? Historical evidence from Italy (XIX-XX centuries)," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(3), pages 425-447.
    2. Zavodny Pospisil Jan & Zavodna Lucie Sara, 2022. "An Insight to the World of Female Entrepreneurship: Systematic Literature Review of the Phenomenon using the Mckinsey 7S Model," Foundations of Management, Sciendo, vol. 14(1), pages 51-66, January.
    3. Nancy J. Hodges & Albert N. Link, 2019. "Innovation by design," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 395-403, February.
    4. Matt Raven, 2022. "Wool smuggling from England's eastern seaboard, c. 1337–45: An illicit economy in the late middle ages," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 75(4), pages 1182-1213, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Vikas Kumar, 2012. "Cartels in the Kautiliya Arthasastra," Czech Economic Review, Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies, vol. 6(1), pages 59-79, March.
    2. Francisco Pino & Jordi Vidal-Robert, "undated". "Habemus Papam? Polarization and Conflict in the Papal States," Working Papers wp492, University of Chile, Department of Economics.
    3. Hanson, Gordon H. & Xiang, Chong, 2013. "Exporting Christianity: Governance and doctrine in the globalization of US denominations," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(2), pages 301-320.
    4. Panu Poutvaara & Andreas Wagener, 2010. "The invisible hand plays dice: multiple equilibria in sects markets," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 145(3), pages 483-502, December.
    5. Martin Paldam & Erich Gundlach, 2013. "The religious transition. A long-run perspective," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 105-123, July.
    6. Marc von der Ruhr & Joseph P. Daniels, 2012. "Examining megachurch growth: free riding, fit, and faith," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 39(5), pages 357-372, April.
    7. Mariya Aleksynska & Barry Chiswick, 2013. "The determinants of religiosity among immigrants and the native born in Europe," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 11(4), pages 563-598, December.
    8. Spenkuch, Jörg & Tillmann, Philipp, 2014. "Elite Influence? Religion, Economics, and the Rise of the Nazis," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100491, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    9. Benito Arruñada, 2010. "Protestants and Catholics: Similar Work Ethic, Different Social Ethic," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(547), pages 890-918, September.
    10. Charles North, 2013. "Robert B. Ekelund Jr., Robert D. Tollison: Economic origins of Roman Christianity," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 154(3), pages 333-335, March.
    11. Jörg L. Spenkuch, 2010. "The Protestant Ethic and Work: Micro Evidence from Contemporary Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 330, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    12. Aleksandar Tomic, 2010. "Nations, taxes and religion: Did Mohammad have it right?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 142(3), pages 461-464, March.
    13. Jared Rubin, 2014. "Printing and Protestants: An Empirical Test of the Role of Printing in the Reformation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 96(2), pages 270-286, May.
    14. Johnson, Noel D. & Koyama, Mark, 2013. "Legal centralization and the birth of the secular state," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 959-978.
    15. Lehrer, Evelyn L. & Chen, Yu, 2012. "Delayed Entry into First Marriage: Further Evidence on the Becker-Landes-Michael Hypothesis," IZA Discussion Papers 6729, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Robert B. Ekelund, 2017. "Memories of Bob Tollison: memories of a friendship," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 171(1), pages 39-43, April.
    17. Sheremeta, Roman & Smith, Vernon, 2017. "The Impact of the Reformation on the Economic Development of Western Europe," MPRA Paper 87220, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Koyama, Mark, 2010. "Evading the 'Taint of Usury': The usury prohibition as a barrier to entry," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 420-442, October.
    19. Olimid, Anca Parmena, 2010. "Religious affiliation and economic development: a recent literature review," MPRA Paper 21101, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. M. Maloney & Abdulkadir Civan & Mary Maloney, 2010. "Model of religious schism with application to Islam," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 142(3), pages 441-460, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:bushst:v:56:y:2014:i:8:p:1223-1242. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/FBSH20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.