Editing Jean-Baptiste Say (section)

== Theory of entrepreneurship ==
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In the ''Treatise'', his main economic work, Say stated that any production process required effort, knowledge and the "application" of the entrepreneur. According to him, entrepreneurs are intermediaries in the production process who combine productive agents such as land, capital and labor in order to meet the demand of consumers. As a result, they play a central role in the economy and fulfil a coordinating role.<ref name="Entrepreneurship"/>

Besides studying large-scale entrepreneurs, Say looked at people working for themselves:
{{blockquote|When a workman carries on an enterprise on his own account, as the knife grinder in the streets, he is both workman and entrepreneur.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://mises.org/library/catechism-political-economy|title=Catechism of Political Economy|last=Say|first=Jean-Baptiste|year=1821|newspaper=Mises Institute|access-date=13 August 2019}}</ref>}}

Say also thought about which qualities are essential for successful entrepreneurs and highlighted the quality of judgement. To his mind, entrepreneurs have to continuously assess market needs and the means which could meet them, which requires an "unerring market sense".<ref name="Entrepreneurship"/>

As he emphasized the coordinating function of entrepreneurs, Say viewed entrepreneurial income primarily as high wages that are paid in compensation for the skills and expert knowledge of entrepreneurs. He did so by making a distinction between the enterprise function and the supply-of-capital-function which allowed him to look at the earnings of the entrepreneur on the one hand and the remuneration of capital on the other hand. This clearly differentiates his theory from that of [[Joseph Schumpeter]], who described entrepreneurial rent as short-term profits that compensate for high risk ([[Schumpeterian rent]]).<ref name="Entrepreneurship"/> Say also touched upon [[risk]] and [[uncertainty]] as well as [[innovation]] when discussing entrepreneurship, although he never deeply investigated their relationships. However, Say stated:
{{blockquote|[In any enterprise activity] there is an abundance of obstacles to be surmounted, of anxieties to be repressed, of misfortunes to be repaired, and of expedients to be devised [...] [and] there is always a degree of risk attending such undertakings.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Treatise on Political Economy|last=Say|first=Jean-Baptiste|publisher=Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger|year=1880|location=Philadelphia|pages=331}}</ref>}}
{{blockquote|Sometimes a manufacturer discovers a process, calculated either to introduce a new product, to increase the beauty of an old one, or to produce with greater economy.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Treatise on Political economy.|last=Say|first=Jean-Baptiste|publisher=Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger|year=1880|location=Philadelphia|pages=329}}</ref>}}