LITERATURE REVIEW
According to Fisher (2009) a literature review is an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers. It forms the foundation on which an article is built Its purpose is to assist to develop an insight into relevant previous research and trends that have emerged.The intention of this section will be to provide a general understanding of some of the theoretical knowledge that will be applied in this paper.
1 THE ECONOMIC NATURE OF ENTREPRENUERSHIP
According to Schumpeter (1934) economic development can be directly attributed to the level of entrepreneurial activity in a country. Bird (1989) adds that Entrepreneurial businesses ensure growth in the economy. Although most entrepreneurs own their businesses, entrepreneurial behaviour is practiced in large corporations too. The success of leading economies of the world such as USA, Japan and England, has proven that the only growth sector in the economy is the SMME sector because large corporations lay off and downsize whilst SMME’s grow. However, the failure rate of new ventures is high, somewhere between 50 and 80 percent in all countries depending upon the measures used. Failure is not without consequence to our economy and society. Venture failure not only ties up assets in an unproductive state but also represents a missed opportunity to create wealth and jobs.
2 DEVELOPMENT OF ENTREPRENEURIAL THEORY
The term "entrepreneur" was first introduced by the early 18th century French economist Richard Cantillon.Cantillon defines the entrepreneur as the "agent who buys means of production at certain prices in order to combine them" into a new product (Schumpeter, 1951).French economist J.B. Say added that entrepreneurs had to be leaders, one who brings other people together in order to build a single productive organism (Schumpeter, 1951).British economists such as Adam Smith, David Ricardo, and John Stuart Mill briefly touched on the concept of...