B. Zorina Khan

The Democratization of Invention During Early Industrialization: Evidence from the United States, 1790–1846

We employ the 1860 Census of Manufactures to study rural antebellum manufacturing in the South and Midwest, and find that manufacturing output per capita was similar across regions in counties specialized in the same agricultural products. The southern deficit in manufactures per capita appears to have been largely attributable to the very low levels of output in counties specialized in cotton production. This implies that it was the Souths capabilities for the highly profitable cotton production, not the existence of slavery per se, that was responsible for the regions limited industrial development -- at least in rural areas. The other major finding is that in both the South and the Midwest measured total factor productivity was significantly lower in counties specialized in wheat (the most seasonal of agricultural products as regards labor requirements). This is consistent with suggestions that agricultural districts where the predominant crops were highly seasonal in their requirements for labor were well suited to support manufacturing enterprise during the offpeak periods.

Property Rights and Patent Litigation in Early Nineteenth-Century America

Economic development depends on the establishment of appropriate institutions, such as a patent system that defends property rights in inventions. Skeptics argue that patents in early America were unenforceable because judges arbitrarily ruled against patentees. I examine 795 patent cases to assess the role of the courts and find that judges protected patent rights because they believed that inventors were motivated by expected returns. Although changes occurred in the 1850s, the courts consistently upheld the view that the patent system fostered economic growth. If inventive activity indeed responded to material incentives, this finding implies that the legal system stimulated technical change by reinforcing the effectiveness of the patent system.The laws of the United States are extremely favorable to the division of property.—Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America

Married Women's Property Laws and Female Commercial Activity: Evidence from United States Patent Records, 1790–1895

Nineteenth-century laws granted wives previously withheld rights to their own property and earnings as well as liability for debts and contracts. I use 4,198 womens patents to assess whether these laws encouraged greater female commercial activity. Patentees were motivated by potential profits and were responsive to market incentives. Womens patenting jumped significantly in states with legal reforms and was lowest in states without such laws. Much of the subsequent increase occurred in metropolitan centers where property rights were of greater concern. Thus, by reducing transactions costs and increasing expected benefits, legal reforms arguably stimulated womens investments in patenting and commercial activities.

Institutions and Democratic Invention in 19th-Century America: Evidence from "Great Inventors," 1790-1930

concern with the impact of patent institutions on the rate and direction of inventive activity, and of technological change more generally. Much of the analysis has focused on what seem to be the most direct effects of granting an exclusive property right in technological knowledge: the enhanced returns that inventors can extract by enjoying a state-mandated monopoly on discoveries they make, and the higher costs that those who might choose to employ the new technologies have to bear as a result of a society recognizing property rights in information. In this paper, however, we highlight another feature whose significance has received little attention. We argue that defining and enforcing a tradable asset in new technological knowledge is also important because it encourages the evolution of a market in technology, and because it extends and increases incentives for investment in inventive activity to segments of the population that would otherwise find it difficult to directly extract returns from their technological creativity. The framers of the U.S. patent institutions

Not for Ornament: Patenting Activity by Nineteenth-Century Women Inventors

Contrary to claims that nineteenth-century women did not contribute to inventive activity and that their work was insulated from technological progress, women inventors pursued profit opportunities and distributed patents in much the same way as their male counterparts whose patent rates responded to market incentives. Women in rural and frontier regions were especially inventive. A random sample of assignment contracts indicates that the rate at which women commercialized inventions kept pace with patenting. The evidence indicates that nineteenth-century women were active participants in the market for technology and suggests that the diffusion of household articles may have been more pervasive than previously thought.

Trolls and Other Patent Inventions: Economic History and the Patent Controversy in the Twenty-First Century

The most significant changes to the patent and innovation system in the past two centuries have been, or are in the process of being, implemented in the United States today. Critics of patent grants and intellectual property institutions propose alternatives such as unprecedented constraints on the rights of patent owners, and many advocate the award of technological prizes as superior alternatives. Such proposals are motivated by claims that the patent system is in crisis, with new developments that require departures from traditional approaches to property rights and technology policy. The historical record sheds light on the nature and validity of these controversies. In particular, data on patents granted, litigation rates over the past two centuries, and the role of non-practicing entities, indicate that these features of the current market in intellectual property are hardly anomalous. Indeed, they have been inherently associated with disruptive technologies that transformed the United States into the world leader in industrial and economic growth. By contrast, extensive empirical analyses of prize systems in Europe and the United States explain why early enthusiasm about such administered nonmarket-oriented awards had waned by the end of the nineteenth century.

Order with Law: Social Capital, Civil Litigation, and Economic Development

I use records on commercial litigation in New South Wales to assess the role of norms and social capital during economic development. The data indicate that total disputes fell over time, whereas the rate of out of court settlements increased. Litigation rates were initially higher in frontier areas that arguably needed to adapt institutions to new circumstances because norms and standards were as yet undeveloped. The fraction of settled cases was significantly lower in frontier areas and areas without market access. Patterns related to jury trials, plaintiff recovery rates, and attorney representation are also assessed. The results are consistent with the theory that cooperative solutions emerge as areas gain access to markets, and suggest that order and law are complementary inputs into the process of economic development.

Justice of the Marketplace: Legal Disputes and Economic Activity on America's Northeastern Frontier, 1700–1860

The analysis of markets, courts, and civil litigation on the northeastern frontier of the United States provides a valuable opportunity to assess the evolution of institutions during economic development. The data set pools longitudinal and cross-sectional observations on 30,000 lawsuits filed in Maine during the critical period between 1700 and 1860. The earliest legal institutions moderated both social and economic norms, but courts quickly began to specialize in commercial issues. The residence of debtors and creditors and changes in spatial characteristics over time yield insights into the nature and extent of capital markets and impersonal exchange. The distribution and disposition of property and debt cases indicate that early markets were well developed and orderly; the evidence of social tension between debtors and creditors was minimal. The results do not support the standard claim of a transition from interactions based on community norms to impersonal market exchange late in the eighteenth century.

A Tale of Two Countries: Innovation and Incentives Among Great Inventors in Britain and the United States, 1750–1930

This book honors the work of Axel Leijonhufvud. The topics range from Keynesian economics and the economics of high inflation to the micro-foundations of macroeconomics and economic history. The authors comprise some of the very best economists active today.

Invisible Women: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Family Firms in Nineteenth-Century France

The French economy has been criticized for a lack of integration of women in business and for the prevalence of inefficient family firms. A sample drawn from patent and exhibition records is used to examine the role of women in enterprise and invention in France. Middle-class women were extensively engaged in entrepreneurship and innovation, and the empirical analysis indicates that their commercial efforts were significantly enhanced by association with family firms. Such formerly invisible achievements suggest a more productive role for family-based enterprises, as a means of incorporating relatively disadvantaged groups into the market economy as managers and entrepreneurs. “This business model … melds entrepreneurial passion with a long family tradition.” —Wendel Company (1704–2014) 1