Frank Knight's theory of monopoly price has received relatively little attention in the literature on Risk, Uncertainty and Profit. We argue that Knight accepted and refined the monopoly price theory of Carl Menger and his followers. Knight highlights the difference between monopoly as an inevitable outcome of departures from perfect competition, and monopoly as a contingent or ‘culture-history fact’. In the latter case, coercive institutional barriers to potential competition shape the choice set of consumers and producers, and provide a crucial method for identifying monopoly gains. There are three benefits to this account of Knight's contributions: it rehabilitates the focus on the institutional determinants of monopoly price, as opposed to the mainstream emphasis on market frictions and imperfections; it opens the way for a Mengerian monopoly price theory that seriously engages the study of institutions; and it adds new evidence and nuance to ongoing debates about Knight's place in economics.

Let $R$ be a ring of characteristic $0$ with field of fractions $K$ and let $m\geq 2$. The Böttcher coordinate of a power series $\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}(x)\in x^{m}+x^{m+1}R\unicode[STIX]{x27E6}x\unicode[STIX]{x27E7}$ is the unique power series $f_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}}(x)\in x+x^{2}K\unicode[STIX]{x27E6}x\unicode[STIX]{x27E7}$ satisfying $\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}\circ f_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}}(x)=f_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}}(x^{m})$. In this paper we study the integrality properties of the coefficients of $f_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}}(x)$, partly for their intrinsic interest and partly for potential applications to $p$-adic dynamics. Results include: (1) if $p$ is prime and $R=\mathbb{Z}_{p}$ and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}(x)\in x^{p}+px^{p+1}R\unicode[STIX]{x27E6}x\unicode[STIX]{x27E7}$, then $f_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}}(x)\in R\unicode[STIX]{x27E6}x\unicode[STIX]{x27E7}$. (2) If $\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}(x)\in x^{m}+mx^{m+1}R\unicode[STIX]{x27E6}x\unicode[STIX]{x27E7}$, then $f_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}}(x)=x\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }a_{k}x^{k}/k!$ with all $a_{k}\in R$. (3) In (2), if $m=p^{2}$, then $a_{k}\equiv -1~\text{(mod}~p\text{)}$ for all $k$ that are powers of $p$.

This paper explores the neglected theory of entrepreneurial profit proposed by Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk. Although historians of thought often dismiss Böhm-Bawerk’s writings on this topic, we argue that he did develop a coherent theory of entrepreneurial decision making and profit distinct from his theory of interest. We first discuss Böhm-Bawerk’s ideas about futurity, uncertainty, and expectations in his theory of goods, which help form the foundation of his theory of entrepreneurship. Further, we connect his notion of uncertainty with his thoughts on money. We then turn to several of Böhm-Bawerk’s ideas about entrepreneurial profit. Entrepreneurs purchase and allocate factors of production; these decisions are speculative because production takes time, and therefore entrepreneurs bear the uncertainty of the market. Their judgment thus yields profits or losses based upon the ability to anticipate the future state of consumer demand. Finally, we discuss the views of several of Böhm-Bawerk’s contemporaries, in order to place his theory in historical context.