In this paper, I use a new plant-level dataset to investigate the relationship between wages and the regional strength of unions. Using a shift-share …

A key barrier to economic development is that while new technologies can offer substantial productivity gains, firms in poorer countries often do not adopt them. This column uses firm-level data to track the adoption of the key technology of the 19th century – the steam engine – during Sweden’s rapid industrial take-off. Much like in many developing countries today, Swedish firms were generally too small to profitably adopt the new technology. The authors document the central role of an institutional innovation – the modern corporation – and demonstrate that when firms were given the opportunity to incorporate, they expanded and adopted steam technology.

A key barrier to economic development is that while new technologies can offer substantial productivity gains, firms in poorer countries often do not adopt them. This column uses firm-level data to track the adoption of the key technology of the 19th century – the steam engine – during Sweden’s rapid industrial take-off. Much like in many developing countries today, Swedish firms were generally too small to profitably adopt the new technology. The authors document the central role of an institutional innovation – the modern corporation – and demonstrate that when firms were given the opportunity to incorporate, they expanded and adopted steam technology.

Inventors among the “Impoverished Sophisticate” - Volume 84 Issue 4

Abstract. From 1944 to 1952, largely agrarian Finland had to export, on average, 4% of its yearly GDP in industrial products to the Soviet Union as war rep