What Drives the Process of Creative Destruction?

Joseph A. Schumpeter (JAS) is regarded as one of the most prominent economists of the 20th century. He is known as the theorist of innovation, entrepreneurship and dynamics of capitalism. JAS's view of an evolutionary economy is often summarized as a never-ending process of “creative destruction†. Less known is the diversity of JAS's writings and his truly interdisciplinary scientific approach referring to lessons of history, sociology, psychology and further disciplines. In this context, he could be regarded as pioneer of a research tradition which is commonly called socioeconomics. The paper focuses on two topics of JAS's writings: (i) the behavioural assumptions for entrepreneurial activity, and (ii) Schumpeter's methodological concerns doing economic research. In fact, JAS developed a typology of entrepreneurial motivation based on human motivation and psychological concerns which are non-economic in nature. Also, JAS created an interdisciplinary working scheme merging institutional and multidisciplinary factors which is commonly called socioeconomics.