Schumpeter and the 'Schmollerprogramm': integrating theory and history in the analysis of economic development

This essay addresses the historical and institutional aspects of Schumpeter 's thought. It suggests that Schumpeter prepared a pluralist research agend a, formulated in accordance with the conceptual perspective of the German H istorical School, as presented by major scholars such as Schmoller, Sombart , Spiethoff and Max Weber. Schumpeter's notion of development, with its emp hasis on the correspondence of economic and socio-cultural evolution, is th erefore to be viewed in the context of the comprehensive Schmollerian appro ach. Moreover the ethical-evolutionary components of Schmoller's ideas poin t at the vital role of the German Historical School in the elaboration of a modern evolutionary economics in Schumpeterian terms. The essay concludes that the Schmollerprogramm is going to inspire further developments in Schu mpeterian economics, as the integration of theory and history continuously marks the research agenda of evolutionary approaches to economic developmen t.