This paper investigates the impact of ¡§learning-by-producing¡¨ on inventive activity and shows that, in both emerging (electrical equipment and supplies) and maturing (shoes and textiles) industries, the geographic association between invention and production was rather weak during the Second Industrial Revolution. Regional shifts in production were neither accompanied nor followed by corresponding increases in invention. Instead, this paper finds that the geographic location of inventive activity tended to mirror the geographic distribution of individuals with advanced technical skills appropriate to the particular industry in question. Even in the craft-based shoe industry, much of the invention came from those with the advanced technical skills. The findings suggest that scholars have over-emphasized the importance of learning-by-producing in accounting for the geographic differences in inventive activity, and underestimated the significance of technical skills or human capital amongst the population.
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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number
12469.
Length: Date of creation: Aug 2006 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12469
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Find related papers by JEL classification: N0 - Economic History - - General O3 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change
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