Technology and Economic Development: The Schumpeterian Legacy

Abstract

The main argument put forward in the paper is that the recent neo-Schumpeterian literature, while providing fundamental contributions to our understanding of innovation, has contributed to the emergence of an optimistic reading of the relationship between technology, economy, and society, with technology able to guarantee strong economic growth and social welfare. It is also argued that such an “optimistic bias” has been associated with a dominant supply-side and micro-based view of the technology–economy relationships. JEL Classification: B52; O10; O30