Institutionally Constrained Technology Adoption: Resolving the Longbow Puzzle
提出制度约束下的技术采纳理论，解释为何只有英格兰将长弓作为主要武器，而法国和苏格兰因政治不稳定选择技术落后的十字弓，揭示了内部安全与外部安全之间的权衡。
For over a century the longbow reigned as undisputed king of medieval European missile weapons. Yet only England used the longbow as a mainstay in its military arsenal; France and Scotland clung to the technologically inferior crossbow. This longbow puzzle has perplexed historians for decades. We resolve it by developing a theory of institutionally constrained technology adoption. Unlike the crossbow, the longbow was cheap and easy to make and required rulers who adopted the weapon to train large numbers of citizens in its use. These features enabled usurping nobles whose rulers adopted the longbow to potentially organize effective rebellions against them. Rulers choosing between missile technologies thus confronted a trade-off with respect to internal and external security. England alone in late medieval Europe was sufficiently politically stable to allow its rulers the first-best technology option. In France and Scotland political instability prevailed, constraining rulers in these nations to the crossbow. The most important thing in the world, for battles, is the archers. (Philippe de Commynes, late medieval chronicler [quoted in Rogers 1993, p. 249])