State Capacity and American Technology: Evidence from the Nineteenth Century
Robert Gordon's The Rise and Fall of American Economic Growth compellingly shows how technical innovation, stimulated by the country's institutions, has radically improved the living standards of the citizens of the US. We conduct an empirical investigation of the impact of the capacity of...
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| Format: | Article |
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American Economic Association
2018
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/113697 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0908-7491 |
| _version_ | 1826206948336336896 |
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| author | Acemoglu, K. Daron Moscona, Jacob Robinson, James |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Economics |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Economics Acemoglu, K. Daron Moscona, Jacob Robinson, James |
| author_sort | Acemoglu, K. Daron |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Robert Gordon's The Rise and Fall of American Economic Growth compellingly shows how technical innovation, stimulated by the country's institutions, has radically improved the living standards of the citizens of the US. We conduct an empirical investigation of the impact of the capacity of the US state, as proxied by the presence of post offices, on innovation. We show that there is a strong association between the number of post offices in a county and patenting activity. Our evidence suggests that part of story of US innovation is the capacity and reach of the US state. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:41:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/113697 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:41:06Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | American Economic Association |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1136972022-10-01T16:31:38Z State Capacity and American Technology: Evidence from the Nineteenth Century Acemoglu, K. Daron Moscona, Jacob Robinson, James Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Economics Acemoglu, K. Daron Moscona, Jacob Robinson, James Robert Gordon's The Rise and Fall of American Economic Growth compellingly shows how technical innovation, stimulated by the country's institutions, has radically improved the living standards of the citizens of the US. We conduct an empirical investigation of the impact of the capacity of the US state, as proxied by the presence of post offices, on innovation. We show that there is a strong association between the number of post offices in a county and patenting activity. Our evidence suggests that part of story of US innovation is the capacity and reach of the US state. 2018-02-15T19:57:38Z 2018-02-15T19:57:38Z 2016-05 2018-02-12T19:48:13Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0002-8282 1944-7981 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/113697 Acemoglu, Daron et al. “State Capacity and American Technology: Evidence from the Nineteenth Century.” American Economic Review 106, 5 (May 2016): 61–67 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0908-7491 http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/AER.P20161071 American Economic Review Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Economic Association American Economic Association |
| spellingShingle | Acemoglu, K. Daron Moscona, Jacob Robinson, James State Capacity and American Technology: Evidence from the Nineteenth Century |
| title | State Capacity and American Technology: Evidence from the Nineteenth Century |
| title_full | State Capacity and American Technology: Evidence from the Nineteenth Century |
| title_fullStr | State Capacity and American Technology: Evidence from the Nineteenth Century |
| title_full_unstemmed | State Capacity and American Technology: Evidence from the Nineteenth Century |
| title_short | State Capacity and American Technology: Evidence from the Nineteenth Century |
| title_sort | state capacity and american technology evidence from the nineteenth century |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/113697 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0908-7491 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT acemoglukdaron statecapacityandamericantechnologyevidencefromthenineteenthcentury AT mosconajacob statecapacityandamericantechnologyevidencefromthenineteenthcentury AT robinsonjames statecapacityandamericantechnologyevidencefromthenineteenthcentury |