Cambridge Business Association
The Invention of Enterprise
Book

The Invention of Enterprise

Entrepreneurship from Ancient Mesopotamia to Modern Times

David S. Landes, Joel Mokyr and William J. Baumol
Princeton UP, 2010
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Editorial Rating

7

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Recommendation

Money might make the world go around, but the spinning wouldn’t happen without entrepreneurs and their innovations. This thorough examination of world entrepreneurship delves into many of the globe’s important economies, from the ancient Middle East to modern China. Edited by three scholars, David S. Landes, Joel Mokyr and William J. Baumol, this work is a collection of essays by more than 20 academics. While not exactly a page-turner, it serves up historical context that will help readers understand the cultural currents and political forces that shape entrepreneurship throughout the world. It’s intriguing to note, for instance, that most major economies (with the exception of the US) have harbored a deep-seated bias against entrepreneurs. getAbstract recommends this book to business people who love history or to historians who want to know about the development of commercial enterprise.

Summary

Entrepreneurship’s Deep Roots

The roots of enterprise stretch back thousands of years. The Near East, the cradle of modern enterprise, had developed money, weights, measures and prices by the third millennium BC. Assyrian and Babylonian cultures created such innovations as trade, interest, land leases and a culture of private enterprise. Business flourished in Mesopotamia between 3500 and 1200 BC. Because southern Mesopotamia lacked crucial resources such as cotton and hardwood, it had to trade. Commerce moved west from the Near East into the Mediterranean. A 1200 BC Greek archaeological site includes storerooms and accounting records. But the rise of the Greek and Roman empires spelled bad news for profit-motivated entrepreneurs. As wealth passed from generation to generation, the Greeks and Romans began to value riches gained through conquest more than trade wealth. Military spoils had a more legitimate reputation than earnings from enterprise. The early years of entrepreneurial development are noteworthy for what they didn’t include: business lending, patents, intellectual property and marketing.

The neo-Babylonian period, 626 to 539 BC, marks the next epoch of ...

About the Authors

Economics professor emeritus David S. Landes teaches history at Harvard University. Joel Mokyr is a professor of economics and history at Northwestern University. William J. Baumol teaches entrepreneurship at New York University’s Stern School of Business.

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