TY  - JOUR
AU  - Sutthiphisal,Dhanoos
TI  - Learning-by-Producing and the Geographic Links Between Invention and Production: Experience From the Second Industrial Revolution
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 12469
PY  - 2006
Y2  - August 2006
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w12469
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w12469.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Dhanoos Sutthiphisal
McGill University
Department of Economics
855 Sherbrooke Street West
Montreal, QC H3A 2T7
CANADA
Tel: 514/398-5500
Fax: 514/398-4938
E-Mail: dhanoos.sutthiphisal@mcgill.ca
M3  - presented at "SI 2004 Development of the American Economy", July 26-29, 2004
AB  - This paper investigates the impact of ¡§learning-by-producing¡¨ on inventive activity and shows that, in both emerging (electrical equipment and supplies) and maturing (shoes and textiles) industries, the geographic association between invention and production was rather weak during the Second Industrial Revolution. Regional shifts in production were neither accompanied nor followed by corresponding increases in invention. Instead, this paper finds that the geographic location of inventive activity tended to mirror the geographic distribution of individuals with advanced technical skills appropriate to the particular industry in question. Even in the craft-based shoe industry, much of the invention came from those with the advanced technical skills. The findings suggest that scholars have over-emphasized the importance of learning-by-producing in accounting for the geographic differences in inventive activity, and underestimated the significance of technical skills or human capital amongst the population.
ER  -