Patents and Innovation in the German States, 1843-1877

• Applicants: Dr. Alexander Donges; Dr. Felix Selgert
• Subject Area: Economic and Social History
• Term: from 2017 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 375527171

Differences in the ability to generate innovative products and to improve existing production technologies are a potential explanation for economic disparities among nations and regions. The quantification of this innovative activity has thus become an important task for economic historians. During the recent two decades, patents have been established as a common indicator of innovativeness.The major focus and contribution of this project is the quantification of long-term differences in innovativeness between and within German regions before the harmonization of the German patent law in 1877, for which we use new patent data. In particular, we want to analyze whether observed regional differences in patenting activity can be explained by differences in the patent law and the practice of patent granting. Furthermore, we use foreign patents in order to analyze market integration within the Zollverein. At last, we take a closer view on the activity of individual inventors and entrepreneurs in comparison with early corporations.Our analysis will be based on a new hand-collected patent data set, including all patents that were granted in the German States between 1843 and 1877.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants