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

Moser, Petra

doi:10.2139/ssrn.941571

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

25 Pages Posted: 1 Nov 2006 Last revised: 1 Feb 2014

See all articles by Petra Moser

Petra Moser

NYU Stern Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Date Written: October 23, 2010

Abstract

This paper 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.

Keywords: Innovation, Patents, Knowledge Spillovers, Localization, Economic History

JEL Classification: O30, O31, O34, N00, N13, R12

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Moser, Petra, Do Patents Weaken the Localization of Innovations? Evidence from World's Fairs (October 23, 2010). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=941571 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.941571