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War and the Returns to Entrepreneurial Innovation among US Patentees, 1790-1870

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  • Zorina B Khan

Abstract

Wars create dramatic changes in incentives for entrepreneurship and innovation, which need to be understood if we are to gauge the more subtle costs and benefits of armed conflict. This study examines the effect of the American Civil War on patterns of patenting and on the returns to inventive activity among patentees. The sample includes “great inventors” who achieved national eminence, patentees who created war-related inventions, all of the Confederate and Southern patentees, and a panel of over 8000 patents filed between 1790 and 1870. The empirical analysis focuses on the extent to which an entrepreneurial response to the armed conflict was associated with disproportionate changes in the wealth of inventors relative to the general population.

Suggested Citation

  • Zorina B Khan, 2009. "War and the Returns to Entrepreneurial Innovation among US Patentees, 1790-1870," Brussels Economic Review, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 52(3/4), pages 239-273.
    • Handle: RePEc:bxr:bxrceb:2013/80760
    Note: Numéro Spécial « Vers une nouvelle histoire économique des brevets ?» Editeurs :Claude Diebolt et Karine Pellier
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Claude Diebolt & Karine Pellier, 2018. "Patents in the Long Run: Theory, History and Statistics," Working Papers 03-18, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC).
    2. Jeffrey P. Clemens & Parker Rogers, 2020. "Demand Shocks, Procurement Policies, and the Nature of Medical Innovation: Evidence from Wartime Prosthetic Device Patents," CESifo Working Paper Series 8781, CESifo.
    3. Claude DIEBOLT & Karine PELLIER, 2018. "Patents in the Long Run: Theory, History and Statistics," Working Papers of BETA 2018-20, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    4. Claude Diebolt & Karine Pellier, 2022. "Patents in the Long Run : Theory, History and Statistics," Working Papers hal-02929514, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Civil war; Military inventions; Technology; innovation; Patents; Wealth; Returns to inventors; Entrepreneurship;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N41 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups

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