Learning by Selling and Invention
The Case of the Sewing Machine
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10104769 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ross Thomson (0000-0003-4078-0657, New School, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1987 |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 433-445 |
| Publication date | 1987-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Economic History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-0507 • E-ISSN: 1471-6372 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0022050700048178 |
| OpenAlex | W1977764394 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 1 |
For techniques diffusing as commodities, sales form a critical medium of technological communication which facilitates secondary invention. While sales may also influence the incentives to invent, I argue that the technical learning associated with selling provides a fuller account of invention for the case of the sewing machine in the United States. A study of some 3,500 patents and forty-eight city directories shows that as sales expanded in extent and location, so did patenting by first-time inventors. Moreover, patent use generated a flow of information back to inventors which increased the likelihood and extent of repeat patenting. In these ways, sales sustained technological change as a cumulative process
Advertising · Business · Commerce · Economics · Incentive · Industrial organization · Invention · Microeconomics · Process (computing · Sewing machine · Computer Science · Engineering · Innovation Diffusion and Forecasting · Marketing
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,15 |
| Citation span | 2006 - 2013 (8) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |