Überblick
"(...) It has been the consensus among researchers that Schumpeter clearly distinguished the notions of
innovation and invention, even neglecting the notion of invention in his work. Consequently, there has been
very little effort made to tackle the relationship between Schumpeter’s development theory and the invention
theories that were popular in the fields of anthropology and archaeology at that time, making it difficult
to grasp how Schumpeter elaborated his own development theory. However, a close examination of his early
works demonstrates that Schumpeter’s development theory can also be understood in the context of the
debates surrounding the notion of invention. In "Theorie der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung", Schumpeter
presented his static agent/innovator dyad with reference to ideas or terms used in the debates of invention
being conducted around that time by anthropologists and archaeologists. In the present paper, the author
seeks to depict the history of the concept of invention, helped by the work of Benoît Godin, and discusses how
Schumpeter presented his development theory based on the ideas involved in the invention debates. (...)"