ABSTRACT
Briefly, we would claim that theories in the field of innovation studies have developed from emphasising macroeconomic concerns to taking an interest in institutional, regional and country specific conditions of innovation activity. In this chapter we will observe the main theories and research approaches to the interrelation between innovation activity and economic development. Theories of long waves in economic life will be discussed i.e., the so called Kondratieffs. Furthermore, we will discuss the ideas of neoclassical economics which reduce the dynamics of technical change to the concept of ‘production function’. Moreover, theories that approach innovation activity in terms of learning processes will be noted and, finally, evolutionary economic theories and neo-Schumpeterian theories will be highlighted.
