This thesis investigates the impact of economic openness on economic growth, reevaluating the established opinion on the importance of trade openness for economic development. The study relies on the critique by Rodriguez and Rodrik (2000), which questioned the methodology of earlier research on the impact of openness on growth. The paper raises two key questions: Is economic openness important, and if so, how exactly does it affect growth? In the development of growth theories, technology plays a crucial role, with its growth considered a driver of economic growth – from Solow and endogenous growth models that emphasize investment in research and development (R&D) as a determinant of technology, to semi-endogenous models suggesting short-term effects of R&D on growth, and Schumpeterian models highlighting the long-term effects of R&D provided that investments grow proportionally with income. This thesis is based on Schumpeterian models, emphasizing the importance of knowledge spillover through the import channel (enabled by trade openness) and entrepreneurial activity for technological advancement. A fixed-effects panel model was used for modeling, and the research results show: a positive impact of the level of openness on growth, consistent with expectations; an unexpected negative impact of changes in openness on growth, which may be due to the observational time frame; and a significant positive impact of research intensity (spurred by entrepreneurial activity) on economic growth, in line with the Schumpeterian model assumptions. Interestingly, variables related to R&D did not show significance within the model, opening up space for further research and interpretations of the role of R&D in economic growth. The growth is measured by total factor productivity.