This original, provocative work encompasses a wealth of existing literature and leads it in a new direction. It will inspire economic scholars particularly within the fields of Austrian economies and the theory of the firm.

The Theory of the Firm presents an innovative general analysis of the economics of the firm.

Entrepreneurship, long neglected by economists and management scholars, has made a dramatic comeback in the last two decades, not only among academic economists and management scholars, but also among policymakers, educators and practitioners. Likewise, the economic theory of the firm, building on Ronald Coase's (1937) seminal analysis, has become an increasingly important field in economics and management. Despite this resurgence, there is still little connection between the entrepreneurship literature and the literature on the firm, both in academia and in management practice. This book fills this gap by proposing and developing an entrepreneurial theory of the firm that focuses on the connections between entrepreneurship and management. Drawing on insights from Austrian economics, it describes entrepreneurship as judgmental decision made under uncertainty, showing how judgment is the driving force of the market economy and the key to understanding firm performance and organization.

The Theory of Entrepreneurship examines the interiors of the entrepreneurial value creation process, and offers a new unified and comprehensive theory to afford empirical investigations as well as delineate a broader view of the entrepreneurial contextual milieu.

Investigates two sets of assumption about the nature of opportunities, the nature of entrepreneurs, and the nature of the decision-making context within which entrepreneurs operate. Sets the basis for future explorations into entrepreneurship theory.

Throughout the history of economic thought, the entrepreneur a wide variety of roles. Once cast as a fundamental agent in production, distribution and growth theories, he has now surprisingly disappeared from economic theory. This volume accounts for this disappearance, exploring how and why such a fundamental explanatory variable disappeared from economic theory. Barreto provides a concise review and classification of the many entrepreneurial theories put forward throughout the history of economic thought. The author illustrates that the decline of the entrepreneur in economic theory coincides with the rise of "the firm" as an organizing principle and considers how the replacement of the human element with a mechanistic one has led to disenchantment with microeconomic theory. This fascinating book will interest economists from a range of disciplines including the history of economic thought, microeconomics and entrepreneurship.

While characteristically "Austrian" economic themes are clearly relevant to the business firm, Austrian economists have said little about management, organization and strategy. The 12 chapters in this work seek to advance the understanding of these issues by drawing on Austrian ideas.