Innovation, competition, and growth: Schumpeterian ideas within a Hicksian framework
Résumé
Schumpeter’s ideas, which should be the basis of any evolutionary approach to the relations between innovation, competition and growth, are revisited and interpreted within the analytical framework proposed by Hicks in Capital and Time. Two main results emerge. First, the introduction of any new technology may lead to higher unemployment and reduced productivity; only an active monetary (and banking policy) will allow the economy to capture productivity gains. Second, within an industry confronted by recurrent technological changes, certain monopoly practices may be needed for this industry to converge towards an efficient market structure determined by the content of technology and the profile of demand. These results suggest some reconsideration of the macroeconomic and industrial or competition policies designed, in Europe, to cope with both technical change and globalization in modern economies.