Foundations of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development

Entrepreneurship is a key factor in economic development. It determines how quickly and accurately an economic system identifies and responds to the profit opportunities inherent in disequilibrium situations. This well-written book is the first to deal with entrepreneurship in all its aspects. It considers the economic, psychological, political, legal and cultural dimensions of entrepreneurship from a market-process perspective. David A Harper has produced a volume that analyses why some people are quicker than others in discovering profit opportunities. Importantly, the book also covers the issue of how cultural value systems orient entrepreneurial vision and in contrast to conventional wisdom, the book argues that individualist cultural values are not categorically superior to group oriented values in terms of their consequences for entrepreneurial discovery. This stimulating and original book will be of great interest to development and market economists as well as their students. The policyimplications for economic institutions that Harper concludes with will also make the book important reading for those working in the public sector.

David A. Harper is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Economics Department at New York University.