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The impact of warfare on the rate of invention: A time series analysis of United States patent activity

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Abstract

The outbreak of war is generally thought to shift the fields in which research is conducted. As a result, military conflict has historically been credited with being the catalyst which has caused decisive technological advances. It is also generally suggested that warfare has a systematic impact on the intensity of inventive activity. Most scholars have claimed that wars increase inventiveness, although a few argue that conflict is a hinderance to research. This question has not received extensive empirical examination. Using United States data, we show that a basic pattern is repeatedly observed. Immediately after the outbreak of a war, there is a significant decline in inventiveness, which is followed by a marked surge. The average net result is a virtual negation of the two trends.

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Notes and References

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Author notes

  1. G. G. Brunk

    Present address: Department of Political Science, The University of Alabama, College of Arts and Sciences, 302, Ten Hoor 205/348-5980 P.O. Drawer I University, 35486, Alabama, (USA)

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, The University of Iowa, 52242, Iowa City, Iowa, (USA)

    G. G. Brunk

  2. Department of Philosophy, The University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, (USA)

    G. J. Jason

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  1. G. G. Brunk
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  2. G. J. Jason
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Brunk, G.G., Jason, G.J. The impact of warfare on the rate of invention: A time series analysis of United States patent activity. Scientometrics 3, 437–455 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02017436

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02017436

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