Patterns of Innovation during the Industrial Revolution: a Reappraisal using a Composite Indicator of Patent Quality

Alessandro Nuvolari, Valentina Tartari and Matteo Tranchero

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

Abstract: The distinction between macro- and microinventions is at the core of recent debates on the Industrial Revolution. Yet, the empirical testing of this notion has remained elusive. We address this issue by introducing a new quality indicator for all patents granted in England in the period 1700-1850. Our findings indicate that macroinventions did not exhibit any specific time-clustering, while microinventions were correlated with the economic cycle. In addition, we also find that macroinventions were characterized by a labor-saving bias and were mostly introduced by professional engineers. These results suggest that Allen's and Mokyr's views of macroinventions, rather than conflicting, should be regarded as complementary.

Keywords: Industrial Revolution; Patents; Macroinventions; Microinventions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-09-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his, nep-ino, nep-ipr and nep-tid
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Related works:
Journal Article: Patterns of innovation during the Industrial Revolution: A reappraisal using a composite indicator of patent quality (2021)
Working Paper: Patterns of innovation during the industrial revolution: a reappraisal using a composite indicator of patent quality (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2020/23

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