Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Human Flourishing

Magnus Henrekson ()

No 999, Working Paper Series from Research Institute of Industrial Economics

Abstract: This essay uses Edmund Phelps new book Mass Flourishing: How Grassroots Innovation Created Jobs,Challenge, and Change (Princeton University Press, 2013) as inspiration to discuss innovation and entrepreneurship. The book is laudable for its discussion of what constitutes a “good life”. Phelps argues that true life satisfaction cannot be achieved through a purposeless quest for wealth and material consumption, but rather through adventure, entrepreneurship or creative endeavors. Weaknesses of the book include a overly glossy characterization of the period before WW II, a niggardly evaluation of European innovation and the lack of convincing empirical evidence for the claim that the rate of innovation has slowed. These flaws are regrettable given the importance of the book´s main message: Innovation and creative entrepreneurship are not merely the keys to economic growth, but to life satisfaction as well. This essay discusses topics in entrepreneurship research linked to the book, including the link between innovation and entrepreneurship, the role of institutions for entrepreneurship, and the tendency of national accounts to under-record the social value of innovation and entrepreneurship. If the measures used do not capture the full social value of innovation, we are likely to underestimate the genuine rate of innovation. Government policy may also be misguided.

Keywords: Innovation; Entrepreneurship; Institutions; Culture; Modernism; Postmodernism; Values (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L26 M14 P47 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 25 pages
Date: 2014-01-02, Revised 2014-01-15
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ent, nep-hap, nep-hme, nep-hpe and nep-ino
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Published as Henrekson, Magnus, 'Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Human Flourishing' in Small Business Economics, 2014, pages 511-528.

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Related works:
Journal Article: Entrepreneurship, innovation, and human flourishing (2014)
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