Fundamental fields of post-Schumpeterian evolutionary economics

Although the branch of economics that deals with economic evolution has become established during the last couple of decades, its aims and potentials can most easily be understood on the background of the work of early pioneers. Joseph A. Schumpeter’s contribution not only analysed capitalist economic evolution as a process of the innovative renewal of business routines. He also explored the idea that the development of economics requires coordinated efforts within the “fundamental fields” of theory, history, statistics, and economic sociology. The paper applies this idea in an analysis of the development of modern evolutionary economics. The focus is on the characteristics and interdependencies of evolutionary history, evolutionary theory, and evolutionary statistics.