On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the publication of Joseph Schumpeter’s Theory of Economic Development a workshop devoted to Schumpeter and Schumpeterians on economic policy issues was held at the Logis du Roy and the Faculty of Economics and Management of the University of Picardie Jules Verne (Amiens, France) during May 19–20, 2014.

This project emanated from an initiative of the CRIISEA (research group specializing in the history of economic thought and institutional economics and management) of the University of Picardie Jules Verne to dedicate a workshop aimed at promoting dialogue between historians of economic thought and Schumpeterian economists on economic policy and regulatory issues.

The workshop hosted nine conference presentations by leading academics on Schumpeter and Schumpeterian growth or evolutionary theoretical perspectives. We thank them all warmly for their contributions and the spirit in which the discussions were held. Most of the contributions have given rise to articles published in this special issue. We also express our deep appreciation to the discussants for their thoughtful comments and criticisms.

The following research questions give a flavor of topics that were addressed during the workshop.

  • What are the lessons to be drawn from Schumpeter concerning the articulation between short run and long run dynamics and what are the policy implications? In other terms, what are the alternatives to the traditional dichotomy in economic thinking between conjectural short-run (budget deficit, taxation, money supply) and structural (property rights enforcement, market structure, education, etc.) economic policy?

  • How does the heterogeneous and evolving nature of individual behavior in Schumpeter challenge the uniform conception of rationality in modern macroeconomic thinking?

  • What roles do economic sociology and institutions (money, credit, economic organizations) play in Schumpeter’s thought? How do they articulate with the process of innovation? What are the consequences for modern economic thinking? How do institutional change and regulation shape the rate and direction of economic evolution?

The papers gathered in this issue are representative of the above-mentioned topics, as will be highlighted in the introduction. But rather than providing a linear presentation of the contribution, the introduction to this special issue is an attempt to bring to the fore tensions in Schumpeter’s work that can help in understanding current alternative theoretical Schumpeterian perspectives on innovation, competition and growth, and related economic policy issues.

Amiens and Nice, December 18, 2015