Schumpeter's Theory of Economic Development
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Journal of Insurance and Financial Management, Vol. 4, Issue 3 (2021) 65-81 Schumpeter’s Theory of Economic Development: A Study of the Creative Destruction and Entrepreneurship Effects on the Economic Growth Farrokh Emami Langroodi a,* a Goethe University Frankfurt, Graduate School of Economics, Finance, & Management (GSEFM), Department of Finance, Germany ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article History This paper provides a multifaceted review and Submitted 11 Aug 2021 analysis of Schumpeter’s Theory of Economic Accepted 12 Aug 2021 Development and specifically the creative Available online 13 Aug 2021 destruction effect intertwined with the business JEL Classification cycles, and their effectiveness in explaining the A12 long-run economic growth by first, looking into the B13 main features of this theory; second, comparing the B31 fundamental similarities and differences of B52 Schumpeter theory with respect to Marxism and Keynesianism, third; a comparison of “Schumpeter” Keywords effect vs. the “refugee” effect in recently published Schumpeter Creative Destruction researches, and finally, the relationship of Capitalism Schumpeterian and Kirznerian opportunities in Kirznerian modern entrepreneurship. Marxism Keynesianism Journal of Insurance and Financial Management Economic Growth Business Cycle Entrepreneurship *Corresponding Author: [email protected] Author(s) retain copyright of the submitted paper (Please view the Copyright Notice of JIFM). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Journal of Insurance and Financial Management (ISSN-Canada: 2371-2112) Emami Langroodi F. / Journal of Insurance and Financial Management, Vol. 4, Issue 3 (2021) 65-81 66 1. INTRODUCTION It is well known that Joseph Alois Schumpeter always explained that “analyzing business cycles means neither more nor less than analyzing the economic process of the capitalist era” (Schumpeter, 1939). Consequently, his Theory of Economic Development - naturally embodies what today we would consider an integrated growth and cycle analysis. Starting with his early contributions to crises theory and business-cycle theory (Hagemann, 2003), Schumpeter strived continuously to understand the fundamental elements in the explanation of economic fluctuations. From his Theory of Economic Development (1911) until his monumental two volumes on Business Cycles (1939) and Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (1942), he mainly investigated the ways growth and cycle dynamics communicate. The Schumpeterian system of economic thought was built in such a way as to realize a necessary symbiosis between economic, historical, political, social, and all other elements of the process of the functioning and development of the capitalist world. All of these specific aspects of capitalist society could be approached as separate entities because this was considered to be the most appropriate way to effectively access the economic aspects of reality (Croitoru, 2012). Certainly, from the Schumpeterian point of view, economic phenomena are not isolated and undetermined, but this is not a reason to explain the economic world through external factors. The Theory of Economic Development was the first step in this Schumpeterian effort to create the theoretical tools and concepts which were needed to approach the economic sphere of reality while assigning phenomena such as wars, political upheaval, and cultural or spiritual issues a secondary significance. The important influence of these latter is not effaced, rather Schumpeter succeeded elegantly in focusing the analysis of the economic development of the capitalist world on exclusively economic elements of the process. The central argument of his system of thought assigned the most significant role to Entrepreneurship with its inseparable and embedded innovative nature (Croitoru, 2012). Schumpeter identified two main interaction channels (Croitoru, 2012). Business cycles, first are interpreted as the unavoidable joint-product of economic development dynamics. Schumpeterian competition drives innovation, but it also begets imitators, “swarms” of which copy their rival’s innovation, attracting investment, and leading to a boom. 67 Emami Langroodi F. / Journal of Insurance and Financial Management, Vol. 4, Issue 3 (2021) 65-81 When the original innovator’s profit advantage is eliminated, investment moves elsewhere, and the sector may even shrink, until the next disruptive innovation, which restarts the cycle. However, the Great Depression seemed to challenge Schumpeter’s vision: why were entrepreneurs not jump-starting the economy? Schumpeter’s reply was the ponderous, unlovely Business Cycles (Schumpeter, 1939), a monumentally ambitious two-volume book that attempted nothing less than a history of capitalist processes, and that moreover, attempted to model business cycles as the product of interacting medium (40 months), long (8-10 years) and very long (50- 60 years) wave cycles. Schumpeter’s desire for exact economics led him to abandon the uncertainty and complexity of “irregularly regular” for the false precision of the three-cycle wave theory. Paul Samuelson said that the book “smacked of Pythagorean moonshine”. Furthermore, he elaborated his famous process of Creative Destruction: the selective mechanism exerted in the recession and depression phases of the cycle which although it has a short-term negative impact, Schumpeter regarded as positive for long-run economic dynamics. Creative Destruction refers to the incessant endogenous mutation of the economic structure through the destruction of the old, established behavior and plans, and the creation of new ones by entrepreneurs. It is clear then that for Schumpeter growth and cycle dynamics are mutually influencing (Legrand & Hagemann, 2017). Creative destruction although certainly the most famous Schumpeterian concept is also rather complex, i.e., the outcome of a liquidation process and a reallocation of productive resources during a recession, and particularly a depression phase. Both mechanisms can have rather damaging economic consequences in the short run. For that reason, and also because of his earlier position on lack of justification for intervention to help the economy to escape the Great Depression, Schumpeter is generally considered a non- interventionist or a pure liquidationist (Legrand & Hagemann, 2017). 2. MAIN FEATURES OF THE THEORY OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT The main features of Schumpeter’s theory of economic development are as follows (Schumpeter, 1961): 1) Circular Flow 2) The Role of the Entrepreneur 3) Cyclical Process or Business Cycle 4) End of Capitalism Emami Langroodi F. / Journal of Insurance and Financial Management, Vol. 4, Issue 3 (2021) 65-81 68 2.1. Circular Flow According to Schumpeter, in the first chapter of the Theory of Economic Development, “in a circular flow, from which we always start, the same products are produced every year in the same way. For every supply there awaits somewhere in the economic activities are repetitive”. It means that the supply and demand are in equilibrium at each point in time and the economy is in its stationary state. The circular flow is based upon a state of perfect competitive economy which is in a stationary state and there is perfect competitive equilibrium (Schumpeter, 1961). The costs of the firms are equal to the receipts; the prices are equal to average costs. There are no profits no interest rates, no savings, no investment, and no unemployment. According to Schumpeter, this stationary equilibrium is characterized by the circular flow which continues to revive itself every year in the same system as the blood circulates in a human body. As regards economic development Schumpeter in his theory states that “the development is a spontaneous and discontinuous change in the channels of the circular flow, disturbance of equilibrium which forever displaces the equilibrium state previously existing”. Schumpeter's theory of development is the key element of a dynamic process that consists of new resource combinations, so-called innovations, or technological changes. When innovations or changes (economic, social, political, and technical) take place in the economy, the stationary equilibrium or circular flow is displaced, and the process of development starts. These features imply that the circular flow is used in a static setting. To make it dynamic and consistent with development, changes must take place in the economic system. These changes can be brought through innovations. Innovations may be defined as a change in the existing production system introduced by the entrepreneur to make profits and reduce costs. The innovation is closely linked with Schumpeter defined development as a “spontaneous and discontinuous change in the channels of flow, disturbance of equilibrium which, forever alters and displaces the equilibrium state previously existing” (Schumpeter, 1961). He assumed that change is the basic element of a dynamic process and those changes come in the form of innovations. The innovations may consist of the following aspects: 69 Emami Langroodi F. / Journal of Insurance and Financial Management, Vol. 4, Issue 3 (2021) 65-81 1. The discovery of the new source of raw materials. 2. The presentation of a new product. 3. The implementation of the modern method of production. 4. The search for new markets. 5. The creation of a monopoly or the establishment of a new type of industrial organization. Schumpeter, thus, emphasizes the introduction of new products through