ابداع سرمایه اجتماعی : مدارک و شواهد از مبتکران آمریکایی آفریقایی تبار، 1843-1930

Much recent work has focused on the influence of social capital on innovative outcomes. Little research has been done on disadvantaged groups who were often restricted from participation in social networks that provide information necessary for invention and innovation. Unique new data on African American inventors and patentees between 1843 and 1930 permit an empirical investigation of the relation between social capital and economic outcomes. I find that African Americans used both traditional, i.e., occupation-based, and nontraditional, i.e., civic, networks to maximize inventive output and that laws constraining social-capital formation are most negatively correlated with economically important inventive activity.

Much recent work has focused on the influence of social capital on innovative outcomes. Little research has been done on disadvantaged groups who were often restricted from participation in social networks that provide information necessary for invention and innovation. Unique new data on African American inventors and patentees between 1843 and 1930 permit an empirical investigation of the relation between social capital and economic outcomes. I find that African Americans used both traditional, i.e., occupation-based, and nontraditional, i.e., civic, networks to maximize inventive output and that laws constraining social-capital formation are most negatively correlated with economically important inventive activity. Research highlights ► We examine social capital and economic outcomes using novel data on African American inventors from 1843 to 1930. ► Like white inventors, African American inventors use traditional, occupation-based, networks to maximize inventive output. ► Unlike white inventors, African American inventors leverage nontraditional civic networks to maximize inventive output. ► Laws constraining social-capital formation are most negatively correlated with economically important inventive activity.

Using the laboratory of economic history, I examine the value of social networks in economic activity. I collect data on African American inventors, their inventions, and their personal characteristics to execute this test. In the analysis of cross-section and panel data, I find that social ties are important for the most economically relevant inventive activity, assigned patents, and not important for less economically relevant activity. Further, I find that factors that disrupt social ties, i.e., laws promoting segregation, reduce patent output. In toto, this evidence is consistent with the existing literature that posits a positive relation between social capital and economic outcomes. Further research would focus on a deeper understanding of the means by which social capital was negotiated and leveraged and of the timing of social-capital formation. It is likely that a number of these networks were informal, and data may not exist. If they exist, the current research would be enhanced by their collection and analysis.