Abstract
Max Weber and Joseph Schumpeter have contributed to the disciplines of economics and sociology. Their contributions combined history with theory, taking into account the interactions between the fields of economics and sociology. Weber viewed the structure of religious and moral thought as being the basic factor engendering changes in economic and social structures, whereas Schumpeter focused on the creative actions of the entrepreneur. Despite these differences in their approaches, it is possible to claim that economic sociology is the common legacy stemming from the writings of Weber and Schumpeter. This study will propose that the analyses of Weber and Schumpeter in the area of economic sociology are crucial methodological tools and provide a comprehensive analytical framework in understanding economic and social structures. Accordingly, this study examines Weber?s ideas on economic sociology, by means of rational capitalism, bureaucratization, and iron cage concepts, in addition to Schumpeter?s methodology, and his energetic/creative action of the entrepreneur.
Highlights
The increasing rationality that has been spread by big firms to all aspects of life, in line with economic development, has been weakening the innovative/creative side of the entrepreneur and has been damaging the basic protective layer of the economic and social structure (Filip Caeldries 1993, p. 166) Within this framework, the bureaucratization process caused by formal rationality and the routinization of charisma, and the entrepreneur that loses his energetic and creative side are similar processes that feed each other
The routinization of entrepreneurship in Schumpeter’s analysis can be considered as the main factor behind social, political, and cultural change. Both Max Weber and Joseph Schumpeter have made contributions to economic sociology and such is evidenced by their historical and theoretical approaches that seek to relate economic with broader societal variables
Weber was influenced by the neo-Kantians, whereas Schumpeter was influenced by the early positivists, they were similar with respect to their approach to the methodology debate
Summary
Weber and Schumpeter are similar, in the sense that their approaches to economic sociology are based on a belief in the unity of social life and the inseparable relation among its component elements, in addition to a concern for development. The opinions of Weber and Schumpeter on economic sociology are the crucial analytical tools in understanding economic and social structure. In The Theory of Economic Development (1934), Schumpeter differentiated two types of individual actions – mass behavior and elite behavior – and associated them with static and dynamic analysis, respectively.
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