We discuss recent work evaluating the role of the government in shaping the economy
during the long nineteenth century, a practice we refer to as industrial policy. States …

A strong tradition in economic history, which relies primarily on qualitative evidence and
statistical correlations, has emphasized the importance of patents as a primary driver of …

Abstract Difference-in-differences (DID) is a method to evaluate the effect of a treatment. In
its basic version, a “control group” is untreated at two dates, whereas a “treatment group” …

Robots may one day rule the world, but what is a robot-ruled Earth like? Many think the first
truly smart robots will be brain emulations or ems. Scan a human brain, then run a model …

A proposal for moving from price-centric to innovation-centric competition policy, reviewing
theory and evidence on economic incentives for innovation. Competition policy and antitrust …

An approach to reinvigorating economic competition that doesn't break up corporate giants,
but compels them to share their technology, data, and knowledge “Bessen is a master of …

ABSTRACT During World War II, the US government launched an unprecedented effort to
mobilize science for war: the newly-established Office of Scientific Research and …

This paper exploits variation in the adoption of copyrights within Italy—due to the timing of
Napoléon's military victories—to investigate the causal effects of copyrights on creativity …

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to outline the key determinants of innovation
performance of a firm in a cluster. This paper probes the role of absorptive capacity in …

Abstract During World War II, the US government's Office of Scientific Research and
Development (OSRD) supported one of the largest public investments in applied R&D in US …