How Cultural Diversity Drives Innovation: Surnames and Patents in US History

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Posch, Max; Schulz, Jonathan; Henrich, Joseph
• 署名单位: University of Exeter; George Mason University; Harvard University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-3808
• DOI: 10.1086/739323
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: growth; AGE; transmission; immigration; invention; EVOLUTION; science; rise

摘要

This paper examines the impact of cultural diversity on innovation. Focusing on the United States from 1850 to 1940, we develop a novel surname-based measure of cultural diversity and combine this with patent data. Leveraging quasi-random variation in counties' surname compositions driven by historical immigration, we find that rising diversity increased both the quantity and the quality of innovation within counties and for individual inventors. Examining mechanisms, we provide evidence suggesting that greater surname diversity accelerated innovation both by expanding the range of ideas, skills, and perspectives available for recombination and by fostering the diverse social interactions that facilitate idea sharing.