German Jewish émigrés and US invention

Moser, Petra, Voena, Alessandra and Waldinger, Fabian (2014) German Jewish émigrés and US invention. American Economic Review, 104 (10). 3222 - 3255. ISSN 0002-8282

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Abstract

Historical accounts suggest that Jewish émigrés from Nazi Germany revolutionized US science. To analyze the émigrés' effects on chemical innovation in the United States, we compare changes in patenting by US inventors in research fields of émigrés with fields of other German chemists. Patenting by US inventors increased by 31 percent in émigré fields. Regressions which instrument for émigré fields with pre-1933 fields of dismissed German chemists confirm a substantial increase in US invention. Inventor-level data indicate that émigrés encouraged innovation by attracting new researchers to their fields, rather than by increasing the productivity of incumbent inventors.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.aeaweb.org/journals/aer
Additional Information:	© 2016 American Economic Association
Divisions:	Management
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
JEL classification:	J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J15 - Economics of Minorities and Races; Non-labor Discrimination L - Industrial Organization > L6 - Industry Studies: Manufacturing > L65 - Chemicals; Rubber; Drugs; Biotechnology N - Economic History > N6 - Manufacturing and Construction > N62 - U.S.; Canada: 1913- O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Technological Change; Research and Development > O31 - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Technological Change; Research and Development > O34 - Intellectual Property Rights: National and International Issues
Date Deposited:	22 Nov 2016 14:40
Last Modified:	31 Oct 2024 03:33
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/68322

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