Economic Growth and the Factor of Creative Destruction

Abstract:

The article is devoted to the study of the creative destruction factor in theories of economic growth. The study is particularly aimed at investigating the factor of creative destruction in the theory of endogenous growth and determining the practical forms of its application in economic policy. The following tasks were solved: the factor of creative destruction and its action mechanism in the theories of endogenous growth were determined; an interpretation of creative destruction in the context of a new growth model formation was considered; the influence of the factor of creative destruction on the aggregate factor productivity of labour and the GDP dynamics was examined; the possibilities of the practical use of endogenous growth theories and creative destruction in the formation of the economic growth policy in Russia were investigated. The work was based on the hypothesis of economic growth theory considering the destruction factor as the basis for the formation of an economic environment capable of providing a new quality of economic growth. The following general scientific and statistical methods of research were used: comparison method, system analysis, systematisation of information and expert estimates, study of analytical indicators of time series, analysis of the average number of employees for a full range of organisations, method of average absolute growth both by extreme points and the average values of economically active population. The theoretical and methodological foundations of the interpretation of economic growth theories, sustainable development, the creative destruction factor in endogenous economic growth theories were considered. The ambivalence of the «rationality» concept adopted by economic science was noted. The factors of economic policy that initiate and support growth and in a given country were analysed with the theoretical justification for this approach by the theory of creative destruction. Three types of economic and institutional constraints (factors) hampering the launch of the creative destruction process in the Russian economy were considered. Studied from the point of view of rationality in the distribution of economically active population, the factor of limited and structural imbalances of labour resources served as the basis for the development of methodological approaches to study the forecast dynamics of economically active population. It is concluded that the factor of creative destruction has not so far found application for solving the problem of economic growth in Russia. However, its proper implementation can ensure a fundamentally new quality of economic growth known as sustainable development. The directions for further research were specified, including the development of measures to upgrade fixed assets and increase investment demand, as well as the optimisation of employment in the economy and increasing the productivity of social labour.

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