Working Paper: NBER ID: w12469
Authors: Dhanoos Sutthiphisal
Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of ¡§learning-by-producing¡¨ on inventive activity and shows that, in both emerging (electrical equipment and supplies) and maturing (shoes and textiles) industries, the geographic association between invention and production was rather weak during the Second Industrial Revolution. Regional shifts in production were neither accompanied nor followed by corresponding increases in invention. Instead, this paper finds that the geographic location of inventive activity tended to mirror the geographic distribution of individuals with advanced technical skills appropriate to the particular industry in question. Even in the craft-based shoe industry, much of the invention came from those with the advanced technical skills. The findings suggest that scholars have over-emphasized the importance of learning-by-producing in accounting for the geographic differences in inventive activity, and underestimated the significance of technical skills or human capital amongst the population.
Keywords: learning-by-producing; invention; production; second industrial revolution; geographic links
JEL Codes: N0; O3
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| learning-by-producing (J24) | geographic differences in inventive activity (O36) |
| geographic location of inventive activity (O36) | distribution of individuals with advanced technical skills (J24) |
| patenting rates (O34) | concentration of individuals with relevant skills (J24) |
| presence of skilled labor and institutional support (J24) | production and inventive activities (O31) |
| individuals with advanced technical skills (J24) | patenting in shoe and textile industries (L67) |
| inventors with backgrounds in tools and machinery (L64) | patents awarded in shoe and textile industries (L67) |
| specialized technical knowledge (Z00) | majority of inventions in electrical industry (L94) |