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The Geography of Invention in the American Glass Industry, 1870–1925

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2012

Naomi R. Lamoreaux  and
Kenneth L. Sokoloff
Naomi R. Lamoreaux
Affiliation:
Professor, Department of Economics and Department of History, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1477, and Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research
Kenneth L. Sokoloff
Affiliation:
Professor, Department of Economics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1477, and Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research
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Abstract

Geographic clustering in inventive activity has often been attributed to clustering in production. For the glass industiy, we find that despite a general association between location of invention and production, there were significant deviations. Centers of production were not always centers of invention, and some of the most inventive areas, such as southern New England, had very limited production. We hypothesize that the growth of a market for technology facilitated a geographic division of labor between invention and commercial exploitation and stimulated inventive activity in places where there were institutions capable of mediating among inventors, suppliers of capital, and firms seeking new technologies.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 60 , Issue 3 , September 2000 , pp. 700 - 729
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 2000

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