Spillover Effects of Intellectual Property Protection in the Interwar Aircraft Industry

Bibliographic Data

ID9706928
AuthorsWalker Hanlon (Northwestern University), Taylor Jaworski (University of Colorado , USA, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume132
Issue645
Pages1824-1851
Publication date2022-06-17
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Economic Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0013-0133 • E-ISSN: 1468-0297
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/ej/ueab091
OpenAlexW4226165454
LanguageEN
References cited40

Can strengthening intellectual property protection for producers of one good affect innovation in other related goods? To answer this question, we exploit a unique policy experiment in the interwar military aircraft industry. Airframe designs had little intellectual property protection before 1926, but changes passed by Congress in 1926 provided airframe manufacturers with enhanced property rights over new designs. We show that granting property rights to airframe producers increased innovation in airframes, but slowed innovation in aero-engines, a complementary good where there was no change in the availability of intellectual property protection. We propose and test a simple theory that explains these patterns

Airframe · Business · Commerce · Computer security · Economics · Exploit · Industrial organization · Intellectual property · Law and economics · Microeconomics · Political science · Property (philosophy · Spillover effect · Aerospace Engineering · Computer Science · Economic Growth and Productivity · Engineering · Innovation Policy and RD · Intellectual Property and Patents · Law

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