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Do Patents Weaken the Localization of Innovations? Evidence from World's Fairs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2011

Petra Moser
Petra Moser*
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305; and NBER. E-mail: pmoser@stanford.edu.
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Abstract

This article takes advantage of an exogenous shift towards patenting in chemicals to test whether patents contribute to the geographic diffusion of innovations. Data on U.S. innovations that were exhibited at four world fairs between 1851 and 1915 suggest that innovative activity became less localized after patenting rates increased. These changes cannot be explained by changes in the localization of chemical production or economy-wide changes in the localization of innovations.

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ARTICLES
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The Journal of Economic History , Volume 71 , Issue 2 , 06 June 2011 , pp. 363 - 382
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 2011

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