Schumpeter's Theory of Economic Development: An Evolutionary Perspective

Although area of economics associated with economic evolution has become established during the last couple of decades, its objectives and potentials can most easily be understood on the background of the work of Joseph A. Schumpeter. The fundamental objective of evolutionary economics is to understand the dynamic processes that dually impact the behavior of companies and the market environment in which they operate. The main purpose of this paper is to present the economic development theory of J. A. Schumpeter in the frame of evolution theory. Although Schumpeter had evidently a distinct understanding of the general character of an evolutionary theory he did not succeed in creating a satisfactory, general theory of economic evolution.