B Zorina Khan
Biographic Data
| ID | 1050331 |
|---|---|
| NAME | B Zorina Khan |
| GIVEN NAMES | B Zorina |
| FAMILY NAME | Khan |
| SIGNATURE | KHAN B Z |
| AFFILIATIONS | Bowdoin College |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5082-8311 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 120 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1990 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
A new way by her invented: Women inventors and technological innovation in Britain, 1800-1930
What accounts for the common perception that women have contributed little to advances in entrepreneurship and innovation in Britain during the early industrial era? This paper empirically examines the role of gender diversity in inventive activity during the first and second industrial revolutions. The analysis of systematic data on patents and unpatentable innovations uniquely enables an evaluation of women's creativity within both the market a…
Related Investing: Family Networks, Gender, and Shareholding in Antebellum New England Corporations
Research into the organization of the firm typically contrasts family businesses with impersonal corporate structures, and kinship ties among corporate elites are often associated with inefficiency and corruption. This analysis of over 14,000 equity investors and executive officers finds that familial networks were embedded in early corporations, not just among directors but also among small shareholders in the firm. Related investing was especia…
Human capital, knowledge and economic development: Evidence from the British Industrial Revolution, 1750–1930
Designing Women: Consumer Goods Innovations in Britain, France and the United States, 1750-1900
Economic studies typically underestimate incremental changes in consumer goods and design innovations that enhance allocative efficiency and structural dynamics. This paper assesses over 12,000 innovations by female patentees and participants in industrial fairs and prize-granting institutions in Britain, France and the United States, compared to parallel samples of some 60,000 patented and unpatented innovations by men. These data uniquely allow…
Invisible Women: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Family Firms in Nineteenth-Century France
The French economy has been criticized for a lack of integration of women in business and for the prevalence of inefficient family firms. A sample drawn from patent and exhibition records is used to examine the role of women in enterprise and invention in France. Middle-class women were extensively engaged in entrepreneurship and innovation, and the empirical analysis indicates that their commercial efforts were significantly enhanced by associat…
Inventing Prizes: A Historical Perspective on Innovation Awards and Technology Policy
Prizes for innovations are currently experiencing a renaissance, following their marked decline during the nineteenth century. Debates about such incentive mechanisms tend to employ canonical historical anecdotes to motivate and support the analysis and policy proposals. Daguerre's “patent buyout,” the Longitude Prize, inducement prizes for butter substitutes and billiard balls, the activities of the Royal Society of Arts and other “encouragement…
The Impact of War on Resource Allocation: "Creative Destruction," Patenting, and the American Civil War
The large exogenous shock to labor and capital markets, aggregate demand, the distribution of expenditures, and the rate and direction of technological innovation that war often causes can lead to substantial changes in the allocation of resources. Empirical evidence reveals a significant misallocation of resources during the American Civil War, as a result of reduced geographical mobility, greater incentives for individuals with high opportunity…
Going for Gold: Industrial Fairs and Innovation in the Nineteenth-Century United States
Dans cet article, on se propose de comparer l’attribution de prix au système des brevets d’invention. Les données comprennent un échantillon de produits exposés et primés aux expositions de l’industrie organisées par la Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, entre 1837 et 1874. Les résultats révèlent les facteurs qui ont conduit des auteurs d’inventions particulières soit à tenter de bénéficier de retours grâce aux droits de propriété int…
Selling Ideas: An International Perspective on Patenting and Markets for Technological Innovations, 1790–1930
An extensive global market in patents and innovations developed after the middle of the nineteenth century. I employ data from the United States, Britain, Germany, Canada, New South Wales, Spain, and Japan during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to assess the evolution of transfers in patent-property rights across these countries. The empirical analysis examines the factors that affected patterns in patent assignments and foreign pate…
Justice of the Marketplace: Legal Disputes and Economic Activity on America's Northeastern Frontier, 1700-1860
The analysis of markets, courts, and civil litigation on the northeastern frontier of the United States provides a valuable opportunity to assess the evolution of institutions during economic development. The data set pools longitudinal and cross-sectional observations on 30,000 lawsuits filed in Maine during the critical period between 1700 and 1860. The earliest legal institutions moderated both social and economic norms, but courts quickly beg…
Engines of Enterprise: An Economic History of New England
Journal Article Engines of Enterprise: An Economic History of New England. Ed. by Peter Temin. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000. viii, 328 pp. $24.95, ISBN 0-674-00099-4.) Get access B. Zorina Khan B. Zorina Khan Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 88, Issue 2, September 2001, Pages 646–647, https://doi.org/10.2307/2675147 Publishe…
History Lessons: The Early Development of Intellectual Property Institutions in the United States
The U.S. was a pioneer in establishing the world's first modern intellectual property system. That system was distinguished by the provision of broad access to, and strict enforcement of, property rights in new inventions, coupled with the requirement of public disclosure, and it was effective at stimulating the growth of a market for technology and technical change more generally. Far from being static, fundamental modifications were introduced …
Commerce and Cooperation: Litigation and Settlement of Civil Disputes on the Australian Frontier, 1860–1900
I examine the evolution of conflict and cooperation during economic growth by analyzing civil disputes in New South Wales between 1860 and 1900. Disputes per capita fell over time and the proportion of cases settled before trial increased, but patterns varied across locations and types of disputes. Economic conflicts were likelier to be settled than personal disputes, and the fraction of cases settled was significantly lower in frontier areas and…
Commerce and Cooperation: Litigation and Settlement of Civil Disputes on the Australian Frontier, 1860–1990
I examine the evolution of conflict and cooperation during economic growth by analyzing civil disputes in New South Wales between 1860 and 1900. Disputes per capita fell over time and the proportion of cases settled before trial increased, but patterns varied across locations and types of disputes. Economic conflicts were likelier to be settled than personal disputes, and the fraction of cases settled was significantly lower in frontier areas and…
Not for Ornament: Patenting Activity by Nineteenth-Century Women Inventors
Contrary to claims that nineteenth-century women did not contribute to inventive activity and that their work was insulated from technological progress, women inventors pursued profit opportunities and distributed patents in much the same way as their male counterparts whose patent rates responded to market incentives. Women in rural and frontier regions were especially inventive. A random sample of assignment contracts indicates that the rate at…
Order with Law: Social Capital, Civil Litigation, and Economic Development
I use records on commercial litigation in New South Wales to assess the role of norms and social capital during economic development. The data indicate that total disputes fell over time, whereas the rate of out of court settlements increased. Litigation rates were initially higher in frontier areas that arguably needed to adapt institutions to new circumstances because norms and standards were as yet undeveloped. The fraction of settled cases wa…
Married Women's Property Laws and Female Commercial Activity: Evidence from United States Patent Records, 1790–1895
Nineteenth-century laws granted wives previously withheld rights to their own property and earnings as well as liability for debts and contracts. I use 4,198 women's patents to assess whether these laws encouraged greater female commercial activity. Patentees were motivated by potential profits and were responsive to market incentives. Women's patenting jumped significantly in states with legal reforms and was lowest in states without such laws. …
Property Rights and Patent Litigation in Early Nineteenth-Century America
Economic development depends on the establishment of appropriate institutions, such as a patent system that defends property rights in inventions. Skeptics argue that patents in early America were unenforceable because judges arbitrarily ruled against patentees. I examine 795 patent cases to assess the role of the courts and find that judges protected patent rights because they believed that inventors were motivated by expected returns. Although …
The Democratization of Invention During Early Industrialization: Evidence from the United States, 1790-1846
The skills and knowledge necessary for patentable invention during early American industrialization were widely dispersed among the general population. This endowment permitted a rather elastic supply of patentable ideas over the relevant range as the expansion of markets induced more individuals to invent and innovate.Although a broadening of the ranks of patentees was primarily responsible for the initial acceleration of patenting, the importan…
Married Women's Property Laws and Female Commercial Activity: Evidence from United States Patent Records, 1790–1895
Nineteenth-century laws granted wives previously withheld rights to their own property and earnings as well as liability for debts and contracts. I use 4,198 women's patents to assess whether these laws encouraged greater female commercial activity. Patentees were motivated by potential profits and were responsive to market incentives. Women's patenting jumped significantly in states with legal reforms and was lowest in states without such laws. …
Property Rights and Patent Litigation in Early Nineteenth-Century America
Economic development depends on the establishment of appropriate institutions, such as a patent system that defends property rights in inventions. Skeptics argue that patents in early America were unenforceable because judges arbitrarily ruled against patentees. I examine 795 patent cases to assess the role of the courts and find that judges protected patent rights because they believed that inventors were motivated by expected returns. Although …
The Democratization of Invention During Early Industrialization: Evidence from the United States, 1790-1846
The skills and knowledge necessary for patentable invention during early American industrialization were widely dispersed among the general population. This endowment permitted a rather elastic supply of patentable ideas over the relevant range as the expansion of markets induced more individuals to invent and innovate.Although a broadening of the ranks of patentees was primarily responsible for the initial acceleration of patenting, the importan…
Invisible Women: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Family Firms in Nineteenth-Century France
The French economy has been criticized for a lack of integration of women in business and for the prevalence of inefficient family firms. A sample drawn from patent and exhibition records is used to examine the role of women in enterprise and invention in France. Middle-class women were extensively engaged in entrepreneurship and innovation, and the empirical analysis indicates that their commercial efforts were significantly enhanced by associat…
Selling Ideas: An International Perspective on Patenting and Markets for Technological Innovations, 1790–1930
An extensive global market in patents and innovations developed after the middle of the nineteenth century. I employ data from the United States, Britain, Germany, Canada, New South Wales, Spain, and Japan during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to assess the evolution of transfers in patent-property rights across these countries. The empirical analysis examines the factors that affected patterns in patent assignments and foreign pate…
History Lessons: The Early Development of Intellectual Property Institutions in the United States
The U.S. was a pioneer in establishing the world's first modern intellectual property system. That system was distinguished by the provision of broad access to, and strict enforcement of, property rights in new inventions, coupled with the requirement of public disclosure, and it was effective at stimulating the growth of a market for technology and technical change more generally. Far from being static, fundamental modifications were introduced …
Not for Ornament: Patenting Activity by Nineteenth-Century Women Inventors
Contrary to claims that nineteenth-century women did not contribute to inventive activity and that their work was insulated from technological progress, women inventors pursued profit opportunities and distributed patents in much the same way as their male counterparts whose patent rates responded to market incentives. Women in rural and frontier regions were especially inventive. A random sample of assignment contracts indicates that the rate at…
Inventing Prizes: A Historical Perspective on Innovation Awards and Technology Policy
Prizes for innovations are currently experiencing a renaissance, following their marked decline during the nineteenth century. Debates about such incentive mechanisms tend to employ canonical historical anecdotes to motivate and support the analysis and policy proposals. Daguerre's “patent buyout,” the Longitude Prize, inducement prizes for butter substitutes and billiard balls, the activities of the Royal Society of Arts and other “encouragement…
Engines of Enterprise: An Economic History of New England
Journal Article Engines of Enterprise: An Economic History of New England. Ed. by Peter Temin. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000. viii, 328 pp. $24.95, ISBN 0-674-00099-4.) Get access B. Zorina Khan B. Zorina Khan Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 88, Issue 2, September 2001, Pages 646–647, https://doi.org/10.2307/2675147 Publishe…
Justice of the Marketplace: Legal Disputes and Economic Activity on America's Northeastern Frontier, 1700-1860
The analysis of markets, courts, and civil litigation on the northeastern frontier of the United States provides a valuable opportunity to assess the evolution of institutions during economic development. The data set pools longitudinal and cross-sectional observations on 30,000 lawsuits filed in Maine during the critical period between 1700 and 1860. The earliest legal institutions moderated both social and economic norms, but courts quickly beg…
A new way by her invented: Women inventors and technological innovation in Britain, 1800-1930
What accounts for the common perception that women have contributed little to advances in entrepreneurship and innovation in Britain during the early industrial era? This paper empirically examines the role of gender diversity in inventive activity during the first and second industrial revolutions. The analysis of systematic data on patents and unpatentable innovations uniquely enables an evaluation of women's creativity within both the market a…
Related Investing: Family Networks, Gender, and Shareholding in Antebellum New England Corporations
Research into the organization of the firm typically contrasts family businesses with impersonal corporate structures, and kinship ties among corporate elites are often associated with inefficiency and corruption. This analysis of over 14,000 equity investors and executive officers finds that familial networks were embedded in early corporations, not just among directors but also among small shareholders in the firm. Related investing was especia…
Going for Gold: Industrial Fairs and Innovation in the Nineteenth-Century United States
Dans cet article, on se propose de comparer l’attribution de prix au système des brevets d’invention. Les données comprennent un échantillon de produits exposés et primés aux expositions de l’industrie organisées par la Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, entre 1837 et 1874. Les résultats révèlent les facteurs qui ont conduit des auteurs d’inventions particulières soit à tenter de bénéficier de retours grâce aux droits de propriété int…
The Democratization of Invention During Early Industrialization: Evidence from the United States, 1790-1846
The skills and knowledge necessary for patentable invention during early American industrialization were widely dispersed among the general population. This endowment permitted a rather elastic supply of patentable ideas over the relevant range as the expansion of markets induced more individuals to invent and innovate.Although a broadening of the ranks of patentees was primarily responsible for the initial acceleration of patenting, the importan…
Property Rights and Patent Litigation in Early Nineteenth-Century America
Economic development depends on the establishment of appropriate institutions, such as a patent system that defends property rights in inventions. Skeptics argue that patents in early America were unenforceable because judges arbitrarily ruled against patentees. I examine 795 patent cases to assess the role of the courts and find that judges protected patent rights because they believed that inventors were motivated by expected returns. Although …
Married Women's Property Laws and Female Commercial Activity: Evidence from United States Patent Records, 1790–1895
Nineteenth-century laws granted wives previously withheld rights to their own property and earnings as well as liability for debts and contracts. I use 4,198 women's patents to assess whether these laws encouraged greater female commercial activity. Patentees were motivated by potential profits and were responsive to market incentives. Women's patenting jumped significantly in states with legal reforms and was lowest in states without such laws. …
Order with Law: Social Capital, Civil Litigation, and Economic Development
I use records on commercial litigation in New South Wales to assess the role of norms and social capital during economic development. The data indicate that total disputes fell over time, whereas the rate of out of court settlements increased. Litigation rates were initially higher in frontier areas that arguably needed to adapt institutions to new circumstances because norms and standards were as yet undeveloped. The fraction of settled cases wa…
Commerce and Cooperation: Litigation and Settlement of Civil Disputes on the Australian Frontier, 1860–1900
I examine the evolution of conflict and cooperation during economic growth by analyzing civil disputes in New South Wales between 1860 and 1900. Disputes per capita fell over time and the proportion of cases settled before trial increased, but patterns varied across locations and types of disputes. Economic conflicts were likelier to be settled than personal disputes, and the fraction of cases settled was significantly lower in frontier areas and…
Commerce and Cooperation: Litigation and Settlement of Civil Disputes on the Australian Frontier, 1860–1990
I examine the evolution of conflict and cooperation during economic growth by analyzing civil disputes in New South Wales between 1860 and 1900. Disputes per capita fell over time and the proportion of cases settled before trial increased, but patterns varied across locations and types of disputes. Economic conflicts were likelier to be settled than personal disputes, and the fraction of cases settled was significantly lower in frontier areas and…
Not for Ornament: Patenting Activity by Nineteenth-Century Women Inventors
Contrary to claims that nineteenth-century women did not contribute to inventive activity and that their work was insulated from technological progress, women inventors pursued profit opportunities and distributed patents in much the same way as their male counterparts whose patent rates responded to market incentives. Women in rural and frontier regions were especially inventive. A random sample of assignment contracts indicates that the rate at…
Engines of Enterprise: An Economic History of New England
Journal Article Engines of Enterprise: An Economic History of New England. Ed. by Peter Temin. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000. viii, 328 pp. $24.95, ISBN 0-674-00099-4.) Get access B. Zorina Khan B. Zorina Khan Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of American History, Volume 88, Issue 2, September 2001, Pages 646–647, https://doi.org/10.2307/2675147 Publishe…
History Lessons: The Early Development of Intellectual Property Institutions in the United States
The U.S. was a pioneer in establishing the world's first modern intellectual property system. That system was distinguished by the provision of broad access to, and strict enforcement of, property rights in new inventions, coupled with the requirement of public disclosure, and it was effective at stimulating the growth of a market for technology and technical change more generally. Far from being static, fundamental modifications were introduced …
Justice of the Marketplace: Legal Disputes and Economic Activity on America's Northeastern Frontier, 1700-1860
The analysis of markets, courts, and civil litigation on the northeastern frontier of the United States provides a valuable opportunity to assess the evolution of institutions during economic development. The data set pools longitudinal and cross-sectional observations on 30,000 lawsuits filed in Maine during the critical period between 1700 and 1860. The earliest legal institutions moderated both social and economic norms, but courts quickly beg…
Going for Gold: Industrial Fairs and Innovation in the Nineteenth-Century United States
Dans cet article, on se propose de comparer l’attribution de prix au système des brevets d’invention. Les données comprennent un échantillon de produits exposés et primés aux expositions de l’industrie organisées par la Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, entre 1837 et 1874. Les résultats révèlent les facteurs qui ont conduit des auteurs d’inventions particulières soit à tenter de bénéficier de retours grâce aux droits de propriété int…
Selling Ideas: An International Perspective on Patenting and Markets for Technological Innovations, 1790–1930
An extensive global market in patents and innovations developed after the middle of the nineteenth century. I employ data from the United States, Britain, Germany, Canada, New South Wales, Spain, and Japan during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to assess the evolution of transfers in patent-property rights across these countries. The empirical analysis examines the factors that affected patterns in patent assignments and foreign pate…
Inventing Prizes: A Historical Perspective on Innovation Awards and Technology Policy
Prizes for innovations are currently experiencing a renaissance, following their marked decline during the nineteenth century. Debates about such incentive mechanisms tend to employ canonical historical anecdotes to motivate and support the analysis and policy proposals. Daguerre's “patent buyout,” the Longitude Prize, inducement prizes for butter substitutes and billiard balls, the activities of the Royal Society of Arts and other “encouragement…
The Impact of War on Resource Allocation: "Creative Destruction," Patenting, and the American Civil War
The large exogenous shock to labor and capital markets, aggregate demand, the distribution of expenditures, and the rate and direction of technological innovation that war often causes can lead to substantial changes in the allocation of resources. Empirical evidence reveals a significant misallocation of resources during the American Civil War, as a result of reduced geographical mobility, greater incentives for individuals with high opportunity…
Invisible Women: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Family Firms in Nineteenth-Century France
The French economy has been criticized for a lack of integration of women in business and for the prevalence of inefficient family firms. A sample drawn from patent and exhibition records is used to examine the role of women in enterprise and invention in France. Middle-class women were extensively engaged in entrepreneurship and innovation, and the empirical analysis indicates that their commercial efforts were significantly enhanced by associat…
Designing Women: Consumer Goods Innovations in Britain, France and the United States, 1750-1900
Economic studies typically underestimate incremental changes in consumer goods and design innovations that enhance allocative efficiency and structural dynamics. This paper assesses over 12,000 innovations by female patentees and participants in industrial fairs and prize-granting institutions in Britain, France and the United States, compared to parallel samples of some 60,000 patented and unpatented innovations by men. These data uniquely allow…
Human capital, knowledge and economic development: Evidence from the British Industrial Revolution, 1750–1930
Related Investing: Family Networks, Gender, and Shareholding in Antebellum New England Corporations
Research into the organization of the firm typically contrasts family businesses with impersonal corporate structures, and kinship ties among corporate elites are often associated with inefficiency and corruption. This analysis of over 14,000 equity investors and executive officers finds that familial networks were embedded in early corporations, not just among directors but also among small shareholders in the firm. Related investing was especia…
A new way by her invented: Women inventors and technological innovation in Britain, 1800-1930
What accounts for the common perception that women have contributed little to advances in entrepreneurship and innovation in Britain during the early industrial era? This paper empirically examines the role of gender diversity in inventive activity during the first and second industrial revolutions. The analysis of systematic data on patents and unpatentable innovations uniquely enables an evaluation of women's creativity within both the market a…
Economics (16 works) · Political science (16 works) · Historical Economic and Social Studies (14 works) · Law (13 works) · Business (11 works) · Market economy (9 works) · Finance (8 works) · Finance (8 works) · Geography (7 works) · Law (7 works)