TY  - JOUR
AU  - Meisenzahl, Ralf
AU  - Mokyr, Joel
TI  - The Rate and Direction of Invention in the British Industrial Revolution: Incentives and Institutions
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 16993
PY  - 2011
Y2  - April 2011
DO  - 10.3386/w16993
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w16993
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w16993.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Ralf Meisenzahl
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
230 South LaSalle Street
Chicago, IL 60604-1413
E-Mail: ralf.meisenzahl@gmail.com

Joel Mokyr
Northwestern University
Department of Economics
2001 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208-2600
Tel: (847) 491-5693
Fax: (847) 491-7001
E-Mail: j-mokyr@northwestern.edu
M1  - published as Ralf R. Meisenzahl, Joel Mokyr. "The Rate and Direction of Invention in the British Industrial Revolution: Incentives and Institutions," in Josh Lerner and Scott Stern, editors, "The Rate and Direction of Inventive Activity Revisited" University of Chicago Press (2012)

M3  - presented at "Rate & Direction of Inventive Activity Conference", September 30 - October 2, 2010
AB  - During the Industrial Revolution technological progress and innovation became the main drivers of economic growth. But why was Britain the technological leader? We argue that one hitherto little recognized British advantage was the supply of highly skilled, mechanically able craftsmen who were able to adapt, implement, improve, and tweak new technologies and who provided the micro inventions necessary to make macro inventions highly productive and remunerative. Using a sample of 759 of these mechanics and engineers, we study the incentives and institutions that facilitated the high rate of inventive activity during the Industrial Revolution. First, apprenticeship was the dominant form of skill formation. Formal education played only a minor role. Second, many skilled workmen relied on secrecy and first-mover advantages to reap the benefits of their innovations. Over 40 percent of the sample here never took out a patent. Third, skilled workmen in Britain often published their work and engaged in debates over contemporary technological and social questions. In short, they were affected by the Enlightenment culture. Finally, patterns differ for the textile sector; therefore, any inferences from textiles about the whole economy are likely to be misleading.
ER  -