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MAKING A MARKET : INFRASTRUCTURE, INTEGRATION, AND THE RISE OF INNOVATION

Andersson, David ; Berger, Thor LU and Prawitz, Erik (2023) In Review of Economics and Statistics 105(2). p.258-274
Abstract

—We exploit exogenous variation arising from the historical roll-out of the Swedish railroad network across municipalities to identify the impacts of improved transport infrastructure on innovative activity. A network connection led to a local surge in patenting due to an increased entry and productivity of inventors. As the railroad network expanded, inventors in connected areas began to develop ideas with applications outside the local economy, which were subsequently sold to firms along the network. Our findings suggest that reductions in communication and transportation costs were an important driver of the historical emergence of a market for ideas.

Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Review of Economics and Statistics
volume
105
issue
2
pages
17 pages
publisher
MIT Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85149960956
ISSN
0034-6535
DOI
10.1162/rest_a_01067
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
8ba29312-27ae-4a1a-9d69-6bdb2126f5ea
date added to LUP
2023-05-22 15:22:09
date last changed
2024-02-07 15:53:53
@article{8ba29312-27ae-4a1a-9d69-6bdb2126f5ea,
  abstract     = {{<p>—We exploit exogenous variation arising from the historical roll-out of the Swedish railroad network across municipalities to identify the impacts of improved transport infrastructure on innovative activity. A network connection led to a local surge in patenting due to an increased entry and productivity of inventors. As the railroad network expanded, inventors in connected areas began to develop ideas with applications outside the local economy, which were subsequently sold to firms along the network. Our findings suggest that reductions in communication and transportation costs were an important driver of the historical emergence of a market for ideas.</p>}},
  author       = {{Andersson, David and Berger, Thor and Prawitz, Erik}},
  issn         = {{0034-6535}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{258--274}},
  publisher    = {{MIT Press}},
  series       = {{Review of Economics and Statistics}},
  title        = {{MAKING A MARKET : INFRASTRUCTURE, INTEGRATION, AND THE RISE OF INNOVATION}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_01067}},
  doi          = {{10.1162/rest_a_01067}},
  volume       = {{105}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}