Learning-by-Producing and the Geographic Links Between Invention and Production: Experience From the Second Industrial Revolution / Dhanoos Sutthiphisal.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sutthiphisal, Dhanoos.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w12469.

NBER working paper series no. w12469

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Learning-by-Producing and the Geographic Links Between Invention and Production

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2006.

Summary:

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.

Notes:

Print version record

August 2006.