Sohn, Seamans, and Sands, 2023
- Eunhee Sohn, Robert Seamans, and Daniel B. Sands. 2023. Technology adoption and innovation: The establishment of airmail and aviation innovation in the United States, 1918–1935. Strategic Management Journal, 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3555
The authors look at locations in the US, and show that co-location of aircraft manufacturing in the same area as airmail operations was associated with more patented innovations by the firms. They appear to have a sample of about 2500 aviation-related and air mail patents, and much expertise on the US Post Office and airmail experiments. Their main data set is available online. (But I haven't looked yet.) There is some subtlety in their framing of questions and answers regarding whether airmail's arrival increases patenting or redirects which tech areas get more patenting.
From research summary: They use archival material and patent data from 1918-1935. They have indicators of when airmail service first arrived in various locations. They compare individual inventors to corporate inventors. The inventors "intensified their work" after airmail appears in their county. Co-location of aircraft manufacturing and airmail operations was associated with more corporate innovations that facilitated economies of scale and corresponded to increased technological diversification of firms' aviation patent portfolios.
- Managerial Summary: This research investigates how aviation innovation in the United States was influenced by the postal service's early 20th century introduction and expansion of airmail routes. Our results indicate that counties with an airmail route experienced increased aviation-related patenting by individual and corporate inventors relative to similar counties that did not receive an airmail route. Moreover, we find that corporate inventors working in airmail counties that also contained aircraft manufacturers were particularly active in technological areas that enhanced aircraft economies of scale and patented in a wider range of aviation-related domains. An implication of this work for managers and policymakers is that early access to nascent technology can be a driver of local innovation and that spillovers can benefit diverse economic actors working in close proximity.
| Original title | Technology adoption and innovation: The establishment of airmail and aviation innovation in the United States, 1918–1935 |
|---|---|
| Simple title | Technology adoption and innovation: The establishment of airmail and aviation innovation in the United States, 1918–1935 |
| Authors | Eunhee Sohn, Robert Seamans, Daniel B. Sands |
| Date | 2023 |
| Countries | US |
| Languages | en |
| Keywords | air mail, US post office, patents |
| Journal | |
| Related to aircraft? | 1 |
| Page count | 33 |
| Word count | |
| Wikidata id |
