2010/04 | LEM Working Paper Series | |
Patents and Industrialization: An Historical Overview of the British Case, 1624-1907 |
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Christine MacLeod, Alessandro Nuvolari |
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Keywords | ||
patents, innovation, Industrial Revolution, economic growth
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JEL Classifications | ||
N73, O34
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Abstract | ||
The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the research on the
role played by patent systems in the industrialization process (with a
special focus on the British case). Perhaps surprisingly, no consensus
has been reached yet as to whether the emergence of modern patent
systems exerted a favourable impact on inventive activities. However,
the recent literature has shed light on a number of fundamental
factors which affect the links between inventive activities and the
patent system. The concluding section of the paper outlines some
"history lessons" for the current debate on the role of patent in
economic development.
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