This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hunter, I. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Entrepreneurship and pure altruism: Reconciling the irreconcilable?

Evidence from a New Zealand mail-order firm

Management and Employment Relations Department, University of Auckland, i.hunter{at}auckland.ac.nz

This article examines the existence of altruism in the formation of a firm and argues that altruism can coexist with the most demanding form of capitalism: Schumpeterian creative destruction. Moreover, pure altruism is seen to be a precursor to the accumulation of capital, not an event ex post. Such a notion suggests a re-examination of views of altruistic behaviour wherein altruism is reduced purely to variant forms of self-interest and reciprocity.

Key Words: altruism • creative destruction • entrepreneurship • mail order • philanthropy • Robert Laidlaw

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?