This survey establishes a chronological trace of the entrepreneur as treated in economic literature in order to give a more wholesome perspective to contemporary writings and teachings on entrepreneurship. The authors review the historical nature and role of the entrepreneur as revealed in...

Introduction -- The prehistory of entrepreneurship -- Early French contributions -- The English school of thought -- The German tradition -- Early neoclassical perspectives -- The view from America -- Joseph Schumpeter -- Beyond Schumpeter -- The entrepreneur and the firm.