Biography Of Joseph Schumpeter ( 1883-1950 ) - 933 Words

Introduction Joseph Schumpeter (1883-1950) was one of the most original and influential social scientists of the 20th century. He was born and bred in Vienna. He pursued both law and economics. His adult life was dedicated to academics, but he also ventured into politics where he became a finance minister after World War I. He also worked as a banker. He was a professor at the University of Bonn in 1925 and later at Harvard University in 1932 where he lectured until his death. He published numerous books including the Theory of Economics (1911) and Business Cycles (1939). From very early, he focused his study on the role of innovation in economic and social change. Also, he explored the duty of the entrepreneur for successful innovations (Fagerberg 2006). The essay explores Schumpeter’s legacy with respect to both understanding entrepreneurship and innovation and application of that understanding. Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is an organized effort that is aimed at pursuing a unique, innovative opportunity so as to make quick, profitable growth. Similarly, entrepreneurial opportunities are those circumstances where new goods, services, raw materials and organizing methods may be brought into the market at be sold at a higher value than their cost of production. These opportunities can be differentiated from other opportunities for profit since they entail the discovery of new means-ends relationships and not building on the existing means-end structures (Legge andShow MoreRelatedEntrepreneurship: Venture Capital and International Information Programs12997 Words   |  52 Pagesinnovation. Still other economists say that entrepreneurs develop new goods or processes that the market demands and are not currently being supplied. In the 20th century, economist Joseph Schumpeter (1883-1950) focused on how the entrepreneur’s drive for innovation and improvement creates upheaval and chan ge. Schumpeter viewed entrepreneurship as a force of â€Å"creative destruction.† The entrepreneur carries out â€Å"new combinations,† thereby helping render old industries obsolete. Established ways of doing