Joseph A. Schumpeter (1883–1950)

The objective of this chapter is to provide an overview of the various dimensions of Joseph Schumpeter’s contributions with a particular focus on his time at Harvard. We start with a brief intellectual biography and trace his early professional and academic experience and motives followed by a discussion of his main contributions. Although Schumpeter’s Harvard period was undoubtedly prolific, it is interesting to study the nature of his contributions during this period and the extent to which they break with the research he conducted in Europe. Our examination assesses his integration into the academic milieu of Harvard at a time when the discipline was undergoing profound change.