The word entrepreneur is tossed around a lot today, but it’s meaning changes depending on the context. The concept was first introduced in 1723 by French economist Richard Cantillon but was more clearly articulated, codified, and coined in the writings of Jean Baptiste Say beginning in 1803. However, this concept of the entrepreneur has drastically changed over the past 200 years.
Say defined an entrepreneur as an economic agent who organizes the means of production – land, labor, and capital – to produce a given product. He then sells this product to generate revenue to cover his costs of production – rent to the landowner, wages to labor, and interest to capital – and the leftover residual is profit. However, Say’s entrepreneur does not simply produce and profit, but constantly seeks to increase profits by lowering costs of production or increasing the efficiency of resources by moving them from areas of low productivity to areas of high productivity. If this definition sounds familiar, it is because it is the one found in most standard textbooks in economics. It might also sound familiar because cost-cutting strategies and the relocation of economic resources are common practices today. But, is this the image that comes to mind when we think of an entrepreneur?
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To read the original article: The Changing Entrepreneur | Cornering History | Big Think
