Bennet Woodcroft and the Value of English Patents, 1617-1841

Alessandro Nuvolari and Valentina Tartari

LEM Papers Series from Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy

Abstract: We examine the potentialities of a new indicator for measuring the value of English patents in the period 1617-1841. The indicator is based on the relative visibility of each individual patent in the contemporary technical and legal literature as summarized in Bennet Woodcroft's Reference Index of Patents of Invention. We conclude that the indicator provides a reasonable proxy for the value of patents and that it can be usefully employed to shed light on the timing and nature of innovation during the Industrial Revolution. In particular, our indicator offers a suitable reconciliation between the patent records evidence and the Crafts-Harley view of the Industrial Revolution.

JEL-codes: N73 O34 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009-03-30
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his, nep-ino, nep-ipr and nep-pr~
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Journal Article: Bennet Woodcroft and the value of English patents, 1617-1841 (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2009/03

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