Financial Disruptions and the Organization of Innovation: Evidence from the Great Depression

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Babina, Tania; Bernstein, Asaf; Mezzanotti, Filippo
• 署名单位: Columbia University; University of Colorado System; University of Colorado Boulder; National Bureau of Economic Research; Northwestern University
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF FINANCIAL STUDIES
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0893-9454
• DOI: 10.1093/rfs/hhad023
• 发表日期: 2023
• 页码: 4271
• 关键词: bank failures; federal-reserve; UNITED-STATES; MARKET; distress; CRISIS; credit; EMPLOYMENT; inventors; DYNAMICS

摘要

We examine innovation following the Great Depression using data on a century's worth of U.S. patents and a difference-in-differences design that exploits regional variation in the crisis severity. Harder-hit areas experienced large and persistent declines in independent patenting, mostly reflecting the disruption in access to finance during the crisis. This decline was larger for young and inexperienced inventors and lower-quality patents. In contrast, innovation by large firms increased, especially among young and inexperienced inventors. Overall, the Great Depression contributed to the decline in technological entrepreneurship and accelerated the shift of innovation into larger firms.