German Jewish ?migr?s and US Invention

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2014
Volume: 104
Issue: 10
Pages: 3222-55

Score contribution per author:

2.681 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Historical accounts suggest that Jewish ?migr?s from Nazi Germany revolutionized US science. To analyze the ?migr?s' effects on chemical innovation in the United States, we compare changes in patenting by US inventors in research fields of ?migr?s with fields of other German chemists. Patenting by US inventors increased by 31 percent in ?migr? fields. Regressions which instrument for ?migr? fields with pre-1933 fields of dismissed German chemists confirm a substantial increase in US invention. Inventor-level data indicate that ?migr?s encouraged innovation by attracting new researchers to their fields, rather than by increasing the productivity of incumbent inventors.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:104:y:2014:i:10:p:3222-55
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-26