Prizes, Publicity and Patents: Non‐Monetary Awards as a Mechanism to Encourage Innovation
利用1851年水晶宫展览会中获奖技术的数据，发现获奖后专利数量增加40%，并指出宣传可能是奖项促进创新的重要机制。
This paper exploits the selection of prize‐winning technologies among exhibitors at the C rystal P alace E xhibition in 1851 to examine whether—and how— ex post prizes that are awarded to high‐quality innovations may encourage future innovation. U . S . patent data indicate a 40 per cent increase after 1851 in patenting for prize‐winners compared with other exhibits. Results are robust to controlling for technology‐specific pre‐trends and for the quality of patents. A comparison of changes in patenting for prize‐winners with changes for technologies that were described on the front page of the S cientific A merican suggests that publicity for promising research fields may be an important mechanism by which ex post prizes encourage future innovation.