A General-Purpose Technology at Work: The Corliss Steam Engine in the Late-Nineteenth-Century United States

Nathan Rosenberg and Manuel Trajtenberg

Chapter 6 in Studies on Science and the Innovation Process:Selected Works of Nathan Rosenberg, 2009, pp 97-135 from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.

Abstract: AbstractThe contribution to growth from the steam engine—Industrial Revolution icon and prime example of a “General Purpose Technology”—has remained unclear. This article examines the role that a particular design improvement in steam power, embodied in the Corliss engine, played in the growth of the U.S. economy in the late nineteenth century. Using detailed data on the location of Corliss engines and waterwheels and a two-stage estimation strategy, we show that the deployment of Corliss engines served as a catalyst for the industry's massive relocation into large urban centers, thus fueling agglomeration economies and further population growth.

Keywords: Science and Technology; Innovation; Research Development; Medical Innovation; Economic Growth; Development; Research Policy; Engineering (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Journal Article: A General-Purpose Technology at Work: The Corliss Steam Engine in the Late-Nineteenth-Century United States (2004)
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