Thor Berger
Associate senior lecturer
Collaboration and connectivity : Historical evidence from patent records
Author
Summary, in English
Why has collaboration become increasingly central to technological progress? We document the role of lowered travel costs by combining patent data with the rollout of the Swedish railroad network in the 19th and early-20th century. Inventors that gain access to the network are more likely to produce collaborative patents, which is partly driven by long-distance collaborations with other inventors residing along the emerging railroad network. These results suggest that the declining costs of interacting with others is fundamental to account for the long-term increase in inventive collaboration.
Department/s
- Department of Economic History
Publishing year
2024-01
Language
English
Publication/Series
Journal of Urban Economics
Volume
139
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Elsevier
Topic
- Information Studies
Keywords
- Collaboration
- Innovation
- Railroads
- Transport infrastructure
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0094-1190