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The impact of institutions on innovation

Author

Listed:
  • Alexander Donges

    (University of Mannheim)

  • Jean Marie Meier

    (University of Texas at Dallas)

  • Rui Silva

    (London Business School)

Abstract

"We study the impact of inclusive institutions on innovation using novel, hand- collected, county-level data for Imperial Germany. We use the timing and geography of the French occupation of different German regions after the French Revolution as an instrument for institutional quality. We find that the number of patents per capita was more than twice as high in counties with the longest occupation as in unoccupied counties. The impact of institutions on innovation is amplified in counties with a devel- oped banking sector, suggesting that financial development and inclusive institutions are complements in the production of innovation."

Suggested Citation

  • Alexander Donges & Jean Marie Meier & Rui Silva, 2017. "The impact of institutions on innovation," Working Papers 17023, Economic History Society.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehs:wpaper:17023
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    2. Donges, Alexander & Selgert, Felix, 2019. "The Consequences of Radical Patent-Regime Change," VfS Annual Conference 2019 (Leipzig): 30 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall - Democracy and Market Economy 203662, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    3. Michel Serafinelli & Guido Tabellini, 2022. "Creativity over time and space," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 1-43, March.
    4. Michael Fritsch & Martin Obschonka & Fabian Wahl & Michael Wyrwich, 2021. "Cultural Imprinting: Ancient Origins of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Germany," Jena Economics Research Papers 2021-012, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    5. Lehmann-Hasemeyer, Sibylle H. & Streb, Jochen, 2018. "Discrimination against Foreigners. The Wuerttemberg Patent Law in Administrative Practice," Working Papers 7, German Research Foundation's Priority Programme 1859 "Experience and Expectation. Historical Foundations of Economic Behaviour", Humboldt University Berlin.
    6. Fritsch, Michael & Obschonka, Martin & Wahl, Fabian & Wyrwich, Michael, 2020. "The deep imprint of Roman sandals: Evidence of long-lasting effects of Roman rule on personality, economic performance, and well-being in Germany," Hohenheim Discussion Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences 05-2020, University of Hohenheim, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences.
    7. Daniel Gallardo‐Albarrán, 2020. "Sanitary infrastructures and the decline of mortality in Germany, 1877–1913," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 73(3), pages 730-757, August.
    8. Kyriaki I. Kafka & Pantelis C. Kostis & Panagiotis E. Petrakis, 2022. "Institutional Effects on Innovation and the Requirements for Structural Reforms," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(1), pages 211-235, March.
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    10. Alvina Sabah Idrees & Saima Sarwar, 2021. "State effectiveness, property rights and entrepreneurial behaviour as determinants of National Innovation," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(3), pages 392-423, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Innovation; Patents; Institutions; Institutional Reform; Economic Growth;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth
    • N13 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • K40 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - General

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