Military Spending and Innovation: Learning from 19th Century World Fair Exhibition Data

Alexander Danzer, Natalia Danzer and Carsten Feuerbaum ()
Additional contact information
Carsten Feuerbaum: Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt

No 16034, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We provide quantitative evidence on the relationship between military spending and innovation in the 19th century. Combining innovation data from world fairs and historical military data across Europe, we show that national military spending is associated with national innovation towards war logistics such as food processing, but less towards war technology such as guns. This pattern reflects differences in the historical markets for war supplies. European patent data of 1990-2015 suggest a long-term correlation between historical and con- temporaneous innovation patterns.

Keywords: food processing; war logistics; innovation; military spending; military supply; 19th century (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H56 N43 O14 O31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 76 pages
Date: 2023-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gro, nep-his, nep-ino and nep-tid
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published - published in: Industrial and Corporate Change, 2024, 33 (4), 831–854,

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Related works:
Journal Article: Military spending and innovation: learning from 19th-century world fair exhibition data (2024)
Working Paper: Military Spending and Innovation: Learning from 19th Century World Fair Exhibition Data (2023)
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