Patents and industrialization: An historical overview of the British case, 1624-1907

Arbeitspapier

The aim of this paper is to provide a critical survey of patent systems during the first phase of the industrialization process with a special focus on the British case. Perhaps surprisingly, no consensus has been reached yet as to whether the emergence of modern patent systems exerted a favourable impact on inventive activities in this historical phase. However, the recent literature has shed light on a number of fundamental factors affecting the links between inventive activities and the patent system. The concluding section of the paper outlines some history lessons for the current debate on the role of patent in economic development.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: LEM Working Paper Series ; No. 2010/04

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): MacLeod, Christine ; Nuvolari, Alessandro
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM)
• (where): Pisa
• (when): 2010

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/89453
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET