ENTREPRENEURIAL INCOME, SAVING AND INVESTMENT.

The primary purpose of this article is to set forth what is known about the saving and investment behavior of entrepreneurs, particularly proprietors of unincorporated nonfarm enterprises. Income also is covered because of its relevance to saving and investment decisions. The major sources of data are the Bureau of Labor Statistics 1950 survey of consumer expenditures, the Surveys of Consumer Finances made by the University of Michigan Survey Research Center for the Federal Reserve Board, and national accounts and other aggregative data. In the years following the second world war, personal saving has accounted for nearly two-thirds and corporate saving for a little more than one-third of total saving in the United States. Some evidence indicates that proprietors and other self-employed persons played a major part in the provision of personal saving, but other data do not support this conclusion. Contradictions are also to be found with respect to the relative importance of proprietors' investment in their own enterprises. Considering the strategic role of saving and investment in the dynamics of cyclical change and economic growth, it seems important to assay the available evidence in a systematic fashion.