• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.75-110
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• 2023

This paper aims at discussing the evolution of innovation theory from the beginning of the last century to present. Innovation theory has begun by Joseph Schumpeter in the beginning of the last century and his theory had not attained much attention compared to the mainstream economic theory. In the 1960s, some neo-classical economists analyzed the effect of technological change on economic growth and emphasized the role of demand in innovation process. However, in the beginning of the 1970s, Schumpeter's innovation theory, which emphasized the role of innovation and entrepreneurship in economic and social development, attained enormous attention by many liberal economists. They were called neo-Schumpeterians as they followed the theories and ideas of Schumpeter. In the middle of the 1980s, neo-Schumpeterians identified the concept of national innovation system(NIS), which is the total mobilization system of innovation resources for generating, appropriating and diffusing technological innovations. Soon this theory diffused very quickly at regional and sectoral level. As a result, there have been very active empirical studies on innovation systems in the world. Since the beginning of the 2000s the transition study have been actively carried out mainly in European countries. This study emphasizes the transition of existing innovation systems into more sustainable ones. In Korea we need to activate transition study, because there have been only few studies in this new theory.