Evolutionary And New Growth Theories. Are They Converging?

This paper presents a critical review of evolutionary and new growth theories. The purpose is to discuss the often‐made claim that the two approaches, both inspired by Schumpeter's seminal work, are becoming more and more similar in terms of the sources and mechanisms of the growth process on which they focus. According to this argument, some kind of theoretical convergence between the two paradigms is taking place. Differently from previous surveys of the field, this paper compares evolutionary and new growth theories by focusing on their major theoretical foundations. The discussion leads to the conclusion that the two approaches greatly differ with respect to all of their main theoretical building blocks, and that no convergence between the two paradigms is therefore taking place. This finding should be welcomed by both evolutionary and new growth scholars, because it is the process of interaction and the fruitful exchange of ideas between different approaches that lead to advances in growth theory, not their convergence to a common paradigm.