Revista de Economia Mackenzie (Jun 2005)
O Conceito de Empresa na Teoria Econômica: Uma Revisão das Principais Contribuições
Abstract
The present work aims to identify the evolution of the concept of firm in the economic theory. Our analysis starts from the original concept of the firm as an economic unit, whose objective is to rationally allocate the factors of production in order to maximize profits. Such vision was coherent with the first stages of the Industrial Revolution, when there were a great number of small companies which operated in a less concentrated market. The new dynamics of growth of the industrial structure that occurred from the end of century XIX, characterized by the great societies and intensified by the processes of fusions and incorporations, modified the concepts of the firm and the entrepreneur in the economic theory. The firms, to keep its market share and to guarantee its survival, were then seen as diffusing centers of waves of creative destruction. Where emerged the possibility of exploring gains of scale, great conglomerates vertically integrated in its productive chains operating in the large markets started to appear. This verticality demanded a specialized and wage-earning technical structure. In this way, the innovative dynamics associated to science speed up the process of technological development, affecting the very concept of entrepreneur.
