‘Entrepreneurship: Productive, Unproductive and Destructive’ by William J. Baumol, a paper published in 1990, however, makes a slightly different case. On the other hand, unproductive activities, like engaging in crime or gaining income through rent-seeking activities, destroy wealth. So what determines if clever people in a country engage in productive or unproductive activities? If they reward unproductive entrepreneurship, economic stagnation comes about pretty soon. Productive entrepreneurship was increasingly encouraged, while unproductive entrepreneurship was discouraged more and more.
Source: The Hindu May 15, 2017 18:39 UTC