Entrepreneurs in Development: Vectors for Society’s Progress

Abstract

Chandler (1977), a business historian, has shown in his acclaimed book that the market alone does not ensure economic development. America, he argued, has developed economically and institutionally as a result of business entrepreneurs’ initiatives and management agency. In developing countries, there is often the belief that the state as entrepreneur, rather than the market, is the determinant of economic and social development. This is a misguided belief. A brief overview of what is happening in these countries would convince anyone that the state is not the dynamic factor. Rather, its bureaucratic behavior and related corruption, are often a problem for society’s sustainable development. In this chapter, we build on cases from Algeria to show that economic and institutional development is produced by entrepreneurs. Furthermore, it appears that entrepreneurs not only build firms and create wealth, they also build communities. Their business philosophy, although built around ambition and universal values, is also rooted in local traditions, and contributes to their communities’ well-being. Concerned about social health, these entrepreneurs succeed economically beyond expectations. The chapter relates a few cases and proposes an entrepreneur-centered theory of socio-economic development.