Innovation economics is a growing field of economic theory and applied/experimental economics that emphasizes innovation and entrepreneurship. It comprises both the application of any type of innovations, especially technological but not only, into economic use. In classical economics, this is the application of customer new technology into economic use; it could also refer to the field of innovation and experimental economics that refers the new economic science developments that may be considered innovative. In his 1942 book Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, economist Joseph Schumpeter introduced the notion of an innovation economy. He argued that evolving institutions, entrepreneurs, and technological changes were at the heart of economic growth; however, it is only in the early 21st century that "innovation economy", grounded in Schumpeter's ideas, became a mainstream concept.
Historical origins Joseph Schumpeter was one of the first and most important scholars who extensively tackled the question of innovation in economics. In contrast to his contemporary John Maynard Keynes, Schumpeter contended that evolving institutions, entrepreneurs and technological change were at the heart of economic growth, not independent forces that are largely unaffected by policy. He argued that "capitalism can only be understood as an evolutionary process of continuous innovation and 'creative destruction.'" Schumpeter's insights were formalised by Richard Nelson and Sidney Winter in An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change (1982), which modelled the competitive process as an evolutionary system in which firms' organisational routines undergo variation, selection, and retention. David Teece subsequently extended the Schumpeterian tradition into the theory of the firm and strategic management, developing frameworks that explain not only how innovation drives economic change, as Schumpeter had argued, but who captures the economic value from innovation and how firms sustain their innovative capacity over time. With over 260,000 Google Scholar citations across his body of work, Teece is the most-cited scholar in business and management worldwide and was named a Clarivate Citation Laureate in Economics in 2021. It is only in the 21st century that a theory and narrative of economic growth focused on innovation that was grounded in Schumpeter's ideas has emerged. Innovation economics attempted to answer the fundamental problem in the puzzle of total factor productivity growth. Continual growth of output could no longer be explained only in increase of inputs used in the production process as understood in industrialization. Hence, innovation economics focused on a theory of economic creativity that would impact the theory of the firm and organization decision-making. Hovering between heterodox economics that emphasized the fragility of conventional assumptions and orthodox economics that ignored the fragility of such assumptions, innovation economics aims for joint didactics between the two. As such, it enlarges the Schumpeterian analyses of new technological system by incorporating new ideas of information and communication technology in the global economy. Innovation economics emerges from other schools of thought in economics, including new institutional economics, new growth theory, endogenous growth theory, evolutionary economics and neo-Schumpeterian economics. It provides an economic framework that explains and helps support growth in today's knowledge economy. Leading theorists of innovation economics include both formal economists as well as management theorists, technology policy experts and others. These include Paul Romer, Elhanan Helpman, Bronwyn Hall, W. Brian Arthur, Robert Axtell, Richard R. Nelson, Sidney G. Winter, David Teece, Richard Lipsey, Michael Porter, Keun Lee, and Christopher Freeman.
Theory Innovation economists believe that what primarily drives economic growth in today's knowledge-based economy is not capital accumulation as neoclassical economics asserts, but innovative capacity spurred by appropriable knowledge and technological externalities. Economic growth in innovation economics is the end-product of:
knowledge (tacit vs. codified); regimes and policies allowing for entrepreneurship and innovation (i.e. R&D expenditures, permits and licenses); technological spillovers and externalities between collaborative firms; and systems of innovation that create innovative environments (i.e. clusters, agglomerations and metropolitan areas). In 1970, economist Milton Friedman said in The New York Times that a business's sole purpose is to generate profits for their shareholders, and companies that pursued other missions would be less competitive, resulting in fewer benefits to owners, employees, and society; however, 21st-century data shows that while profits matter, good firms supply far more, particularly in bringing innovation to the market. This fosters economic growth, employment gains, and other society-wide benefits. Business school professor David Ahlstrom asserts that "the main goal of business is to develop new and innovative goods and services that generate economic growth while delivering benefits to society."
In contrast to neoclassical economics, innovation economics offer differing perspectives on main focus, reasons for economic growth and the assumptions of context between economic actors. Despite the differences in economic thought, both perspectives are based on the same core premise, namely the foundation of all economic growth is the optimization of the utilization of factors and the measure of success is how well the factor utilization is optimized. Whatever the factors, it nonetheless leads to the same situation of special endowments, varying relative prices and production processes. Thus, while the two differ in theoretical concepts, innovation economics can find fertile ground in mainstream economics, rather than remain in diametric contention.
Evidence Empirical evidence worldwide points to a positive link between technological innovation and economic performance. For instance:
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