State Capacity and American Technology: Evidence from the Nineteenth Century
American Economic Review
vol. 106,
no. 5, May 2016
(pp. 61-67)
Abstract
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.Citation
Acemoglu, Daron, Jacob Moscona, and James A. Robinson. 2016. "State Capacity and American Technology: Evidence from the Nineteenth Century." American Economic Review, 106 (5): 61-67. DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20161071Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- E23 Macroeconomics: Production
- E65 Studies of Particular Policy Episodes
- I31 General Welfare; Well-Being
- N11 Economic History: Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations: U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
- N12 Economic History: Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations: U.S.; Canada: 1913-
- O33 Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
- O43 Institutions and Growth