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The Rise of American Ingenuity: Innovation and Inventors of the Golden Age

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  • Akcigit, Ufuk
  • Grigsby, John
  • Nicholas, Tom
Abstract
We examine the golden age of US innovation by undertaking a major data collection exercise linking US patents to state and county-level aggregates and matching inventors to Federal Censuses between 1880 and 1940. We identify a causal relationship between patented inventions and long run economic growth and outline a basic framework for analyzing key macro and micro-level determinants. We explore drivers of regional performance including population density, financial development, geographic connectedness and social structure. We then profile the characteristics of inventors and their life cycle, measure the returns to technological development, and document the relationship between innovation, inequality and social mobility. Our new data help to address important questions related to innovation and long-run growth dynamics.

Suggested Citation

  • Akcigit, Ufuk & Grigsby, John & Nicholas, Tom, 2017. "The Rise of American Ingenuity: Innovation and Inventors of the Golden Age," CEPR Discussion Papers 11755, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11755
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Patents; Innovation; Inventors; Growth; Demographics; Census; Earnings; Migration;
    All these keywords.

    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
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
    • N11 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • N12 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-

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