Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/229599 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 8781
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
We analyze wartime prosthetic device patents to investigate how demand and procurement policy can shape medical innovation. We use machine learning tools to develop new data describing the aspects of medical and mechanical innovations that are emphasized in patent documents. Our analysis of historical patents yields three primary facts. First, we find that the U.S. Civil War and World War I led to substantial increases in the quantity of prosthetic device patenting relative to patenting in other medical and mechanical technology classes. Second, we find that the Civil War led inventors to focus broadly on improving aspects of the production process, while World War I did not, consistent with the United States applying a more cost-conscious procurement model during the Civil War. Third, we find that inventors emphasized dimensions of product quality (e.g., a prosthetic’s appearance or comfort) that aligned with differences in buyers’ preferences, as described in the historical record, across wars. We conclude that procurement environments can significantly shape the scientific problems with which inventors engage, including the choice to innovate on quality or cost.
Subjects: 
procurement
medical innovation
health care
health economics
JEL: 
H57
I10
O31
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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