RESEARCH PAPER NO. 863

COMPARATIVE TECHNOLOGICAL CREATIVITY IN BRITAIN AND AMERICA AT THE END OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY: THE ANTIPODEAN EXPERIENCE

BY

GARY B. MAGEE

NOVEMBER 2002

Department of Economics. University of Melbourne. Melbourne Victoria 3010 Australia

This paper uses patent data from colonial Australia to provide an estimate of comparative Anglo-American inventive activity at the end of the nineteenth century.  These data confirm the traditional belief of a widening inventive gap in this period.  The paper argues that much of this gap can be accounted for by each nation's factor endowment and demand pattern.  The results, however, also indicate that tariffs may have had a role to play as well.  The paper concludes by highlighting the need for further understanding of the ways in which competition, tariffs, and perceptions of security can impact on technological creativity.

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