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The Democratization of Invention in the American South: Antebellum and Post Bellum Technology Markets in the United States

Author

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  • William H. Phillips

    (Department of Economics, Tulane University)

Abstract

Patenting expanded rapidly across the post bellum South as its transportation network filled in and city growth extended markets. This was consistent with Sokoloff and Khan (1990), who demonstrated the elastic supply of patentable ideas in early America. Successful innovation required that inventors could or did sell their property rights through "assignment" to those who commercialized new technology. The assignment characteristics of 1912 southern patents were examined. Southern "border" state patents had a higher rate of marketable assignments than those issued to residents in the Deep South. Greater commercialization of patents in border state cities accounted for most of this difference.

Suggested Citation

  • William H. Phillips, 2008. "The Democratization of Invention in the American South: Antebellum and Post Bellum Technology Markets in the United States," Working Papers 0804, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:tul:wpaper:0804
    as

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    File URL: http://repec.tulane.edu/RePEc/pdf/tul0804.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cook, Lisa D., 2011. "Inventing social capital: Evidence from African American inventors, 1843–1930," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 48(4), pages 507-518.
    2. Lamoreaux Naomi R. & Levenstein Margaret & Sokoloff Kenneth L., 2006. "Mobilizing Venture Capital during the Second Industrial Revolution: Cleveland, Ohio, 1870-1920," Capitalism and Society, De Gruyter, vol. 1(3), pages 1-64, December.
    3. Naomi R. Lamoreaux & Kenneth L. Sokoloff, 1999. "Inventive Activity and the Market for Technology in the United States, 1840-1920," NBER Working Papers 7107, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Phillips, William H., 1992. "Patent Growth in the Old Dominion: The Impact of Railroad Integration before 1880," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(2), pages 389-400, June.
    5. Sokoloff, Kenneth L. & Khan, B. Zorina, 1990. "The Democratization of Invention During Early Industrialization: Evidence from the United States, 1790–1846," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(2), pages 363-378, June.
    6. Higgs, Robert, 1971. "American Inventiveness, 1870-1920," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 79(3), pages 661-667, May-June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    post-bellum South; invention; patents;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N71 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • 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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