Corporate Innovation and the Technological Advantage of British Regions in the Interwar Period

Abstract

This paper investigates the international technological specialization of the British regions in the interwar period. It is based on a novel dataset of more than 8,000 patents granted in the USA to British inventions. The analysis focuses on the impact of the dispersion of corporate innovation on the pattern of regional technological advantage, and contributes to the debate concerning the role of corporate innovation in the international relative decline of the British economy in the interwar period. Overall, the rise of corporate innovation in the largest firms in Britain did play a significant role in the technological profile of the regions. However, corporate innovation was only to a limited extent associated with the technological fields characterised by high technological opportunities.

Keywords: Innovation, technological advantage, British regions, interwar Britain, corporations

JEL Classification: N14, O31, O32, R12, N94, N84, L22