In the context of digitalization, ecology, and the new globalization, entrepreneurship is changing from being factor-driven to innovation-driven; innovation and entrepreneurship activities are deeply integrated. Innovation is becoming a crucial driving force that countries can use to enhance international competitiveness and achieve sustainable development (Cai et al., 2022). Moreover, innovation is an important trigger for entrepreneurial activities. Schumpeter’s innovation theory is the core of the theoretical system of innovation economics. It emphasizes that innovation is not only the cause of dynamic and unbalanced economic development, but also entrepreneurs’ basic function. While regarding technological change as the endogenous result of market interactions between heterogeneous economic entities, innovation economics attaches importance to the influence of dynamic factors and highlights acquiring core competitive advantages. Reviewing and sorting out the development and application of innovation economics as an important basis for building innovation-driven entrepreneurship theory can help clarify the role of innovation and entrepreneurship in the economic development process.