Institutional Innovation and the Adoption of New Technologies: The Case of Steam

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS); Uppsala University; Lund University; Lund University; Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK; Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0507
• DOI: 10.1017/S0022050725100855
• 发表日期: 2025
• 页码: 844-873
• 关键词: general-purpose technology; historical-perspective; PRODUCTIVITY; engine; GROWTH; late-19th-century; modernization; mechanization; corporation; industries

摘要

This paper documents how the advent of the limited liability corporation contributed to the diffusion of steam technology during Sweden's industrialization. Using longitudinal establishment-level data, we show that incorporation sharply raised the probability that industrial establishments adopted steam. Incorporation facilitated technology adoption partly by enabling smaller establishments to expand to a greater scale, where the use of steam became feasible. These results highlight that low barriers to incorporation may be an important lever for facilitating the diffusion of new technologies.