Schumpeter and economic man

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the writings of Joseph Schumpeter on economic man to demonstrate that Schumpeter is a precursor of personalist economics.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper addresses two intertwined questions. What evidence supports the claim that Schumpeter rejected homo economicus? What evidence indicates that Schumpeter actually embraced the human person – the acting person – as a replacement for homo economicus? The evidence is presented in four sections: Schumpeter’s rejection of homo economicus; Schumpeter on economic agency; Schumpeter, a precursor of personalist economics; and final remarks.

Findings

As to the first question, there is no doubt that Schumpeter rejected homo economicus. Regarding the second, the evidence does not indicate that Schumpeter proposed replacing homo economicus with what today we refer to as the acting person. This paper concludes that by insisting on the critical role of the active, spontaneous, and eager-to-initiate change entrepreneur in economic affairs and our understanding of those affairs Schumpeter was a precursor of personalist economics.

Originality/value

To a large extent Schumpeter’s insights regarding economic agency and William Waters role in interpreting those insights have been buried in the economics literature. It was Waters in 1952 who stated that Schumpeter identified the inadequacy of economic man as the efficient cause of economic activity and re-established the human person as the true efficient cause, principally in terms of entrepreneurship.

Citation

O’Boyle, E.J. (2017), "Schumpeter and economic man", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 44 No. 1, pp. 141-150. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-07-2015-0182