This paper introduces a new internationally comparable data set that permits an empirical investigation of the effects of patent law on innovation. The data have been constructed from the catalogues of two 19th century world fairs: the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851, and the...

This paper introduces a new internationally comparable data set that permits an empirical investigation of the effects of patent law on innovation. The data have been constructed from the catalogues of two 19th century world fairs: the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London, 1851, and the...

Previous studies have tended to focus on theeffect that patent laws have on number of innovations, ignoring the effect thatpatent laws have on technological change. Here, a data set of 15,000innovations at two World's Fairs--the London Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851and the Philadelphia...