Kirznerian Entrepreneurship and The Economics of Science

The paper argues that scientific activity, despite exhibiting characteristics congenial to the economic way of thinking, cannot be generally studied as a catallactic process under prevailing institutional arrangements. Recent changes in the institutional context of science, however, suggest a widening scope for treating science as a market activity.

The paper distinguishes two types of entrepreneurial activity in terms of their institutionally relevant contexts. Type 1 (Kirznerian) entrepreneurship refers to catallactic activity in which coordinating mechanisms, operating via the exchange of property rights, generates market prices. We identify Type 2 entrepreneurship with noncatallactic processes.

The paper argues that scientific activity, despite exhibiting characteristics congenial to the economic way of thinking, cannot be generally studied as a catallactic process under prevailing institutional arrangements. Recent changes in the institutional context of science, however, suggest a widening scope for treating science as a market activity.

Read the article at Berkeley Electronic Press.

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