Technology Adoption, Standardization, and Lock-In in the 19th Century U.S. Telegraph Industry

Dimitry Rtischev

Gakushuin Economic Papers, 2024, vol. 61, issue 3, 163-182

Abstract: The paper examines the economic forces that influenced technology adoption and diffusion in the American telegraph industry. Reviewing the history of innovation, standardization, and consolidation in the U.S. telegraph industry in the nineteenth century, attention is drawn to institutional factors and technological lock-in that perpetuated inefficient ways to transmit telegrams.

Keywords: telegraph; standardization; network effects; lock-in; Morse code (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L15 N81 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:abc:gakuep:61-3-1

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