Evolutionary economics aims to explain dynamic processes of economic development, predominantly caused by technological and other innovations. Evolutionary economics extends beyond the quantitative focus that prevails in standard economics and adds a necessary qualitative dimension, which is required to understand structural changes of long-term development. Theoretically, it is rooted in the works of Joseph A. Schumpeter from the early twentieth century, who replaced price competition, which is at the forefront of standard economics, with innovation competition and added the active entrepreneur to the passive Homo oeconomicus. Modern evolutionary economics has been able to establish itself since the 1980s and serves as the framework for economic innovation research and innovation policy through the innovation systems approach. Modern evolutionary economics does justice to the object of investigation by taking real uncertainty, heterogeneous actors, and learning processes into account. Today, it is widely recognized as a relevant direction in economic innovation research.