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Using multinational patent data to measure a design change in early aviation

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  • Peter B. Meyer

    (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Office of Productivity and Technology)

Abstract

Based on data from approximately 12,700 aeronautics and aviation patents from several countries between 1880 and 1914, this study measures the shift in designs over time, away from balloons and flapping wings and toward fixed-wing airplane designs. The data sets are eclectic and selectively coded, since the national patent classifications of technologies of the time did not always clearly make this distinction, although it is fundamental to the way in which a flying machine would work. We find that that the topics of aero patents had been shifting slowly toward fixed-wing designs, and away from balloon designs, since before 1900, and that it sped up after 1903. The transition in patents was clearly detectable and well underway by 1908 when many airplane-producing companies were founded around the world.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter B. Meyer, 2025. "Using multinational patent data to measure a design change in early aviation," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 130(1), pages 187-204, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:130:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s11192-024-05148-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-024-05148-3
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Edward Beatty, 2015. "Globalization and Technological Capabilities: Evidence from Mexico’s Patent Records ca. 1870-1911," Estudios de Economia, University of Chile, Department of Economics, vol. 42(2 Year 20), pages 45-65, December.
    2. Bryan Kelly & Dimitris Papanikolaou & Amit Seru & Matt Taddy, 2021. "Measuring Technological Innovation over the Long Run," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 3(3), pages 303-320, September.
    3. Carlo Giglio & Roberto Sbragia & Roberto Musmanno & Roberto Palmieri, 2021. "Cross-country learning from patents: an analysis of citations flows in innovation trajectories," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(9), pages 7917-7936, September.
    4. Lehmann-Hasemeyer, Sibylle & Streb, Jochen, 2020. "Discrimination against Foreigners: The Wuerttemberg Patent Law in Administrative Practice," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 80(4), pages 1071-1100, December.
    5. Peter B. Meyer, 2013. "The Airplane as an Open-Source Invention," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 64(1), pages 115-132.
    6. Nicholas, Tom & Shimizu, Hiroshi, 2013. "Intermediary Functions and the Market for Innovation in Meiji and Taishō Japan," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 87(1), pages 121-149, April.
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital

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