The theory of the entrepreneur, its evolution and contextualization.

Summary Few economists have placed the entrepreneur at the heart of the overall dynamics of capitalism, which is more important than the economic actor himself. However, three economists, Cantillon, Say and Schumpeter, have developed an analysis in which the entrepreneur is the main energy of the capitalist accumulation process. In their analysis, the entrepreneur is not an individual but a function that represents a systemic link between the socio-economic structures of capitalism and entrepreneurial motivations (profit, challenge, social recognition, innovation, etc.), making it possible to understand their decisions and to analyze their consequences on the business cycle. Since then, other economists have updated and developed their work, according to the economic and social problems (technical progress, unemployment, employment...) of their time.