Entrepreneurship and growth: lessons from an intellectual journey

Aghion, Philippe ORCID: 0000-0002-9019-1677 (2016) Entrepreneurship and growth: lessons from an intellectual journey. Small Business Economics, 48 (1). pp. 9-24. ISSN 0921-898X

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Abstract

This lecture is the story of an intellectual journey, that of elaborating a new—Schumpeterian—theory of economic growth. A theory where (i) growth is generated by innovative entrepreneurs; (ii) entrepreneurial investments respond to incentives that are themselves shaped by economic policies and institutions; (iii) new innovations replace old technologies: in other words, growth involves creative destruction and therefore involves a permanent conflict between incumbents and new entrants. First, we motivate and then lay out the Schumpeterian paradigm and point to a set of empirical predictions which distinguish this paradigm from other growth models. Second, we raise four debates on which the Schumpeterian approach sheds new light: the middle income trap, secular stagnation, the recent rise in top income inequality, and firm dynamics. Third and last, we show how the paradigm can be used to think (or rethink) about growth policy design. (This article is based on the author’s presentation at the Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, May 10, 2016.)

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://link.springer.com/journal/11187
Additional Information:	© 2016 The Author © CC BY 4.0
Divisions:	Economics
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory H Social Sciences > HG Finance
JEL classification:	O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O10 - General O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O11 - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O12 - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Technological Change; Research and Development > O30 - General O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Technological Change; Research and Development > O31 - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Technological Change; Research and Development > O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O4 - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O4 - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity > O47 - Measurement of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output (Income) Convergence
Date Deposited:	16 Mar 2017 08:19
Last Modified:	05 Apr 2024 23:12
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/69824

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