Entrepreneurship, and the Entrepreneurial Market Process: Israel M. Kirzner and the Two Levels of Analysis in Spontaneous Order Studies

15 Pages Posted: 8 Feb 2013 Last revised: 18 Oct 2017

See all articles by Peter J. Boettke

Peter J. Boettke

George Mason University - Department of Economics; Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Date Written: February 6, 2013

Abstract

“Economics,” Ludwig von Mises (1966, 252) famously wrote, “in speaking of entrepreneurs, has in view not men, but a definite function.” The entrepreneurial function is to be the driving force of the market economy. The entrepreneur acts on the basis of changing circumstances in market conditions to produce the accommodating adjustments in exchange and production. The ceaseless quest for profits by those eager entrepreneurs drive the market system toward realizing the gains from trade and the gains from innovation. The relentless pursuit of profit is in this Misesian analysis of the market process the critical factor in how markets work. Profits and losses are ever-present features of a functioning market economy only because of changing circumstances that result in discrepancies that require adjustments.

Keywords: Kirzner, Market, Entrepreneur, Mises, Boettke, spontaneous order

JEL Classification: B31

Suggested Citation

Boettke, Peter J. and Boettke, Peter J., Entrepreneurship, and the Entrepreneurial Market Process: Israel M. Kirzner and the Two Levels of Analysis in Spontaneous Order Studies (February 6, 2013). Review of Austrian Economics, Vol. 27, 2014, GMU Working Paper in Economics No. 13-19, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2213004 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2213004

Peter J. Boettke (Contact Author)

Mercatus Center at George Mason University ( email )

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George Mason University - Department of Economics ( email )

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703-993-1133 (Fax)

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