Patents, machine learning, and war: invention during the British Industrial Revolution

The research focuses on three important questions for economics and economic history: (1) does it matter how we classify historical patent data? (2) how did Britain's patent fees affect patenting behaviour? and (3) was Britain's involvement in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars harmful to industrialisation?

Using a combination of machine learning techniques, econometric analysis, and new archival evidence, this thesis finds that: (1) the results of statistical analysis of historical patent data depends on the taxonomy used to classify that data; (2) Britain's high patent fees were unlikely to have harmed invention, as the most economically valuable inventions were patented in multiple British patent jurisdictions, and were produced by individuals of a higher social status; and (3) the Napoleonic War coincided with a permanent increase in economically valuable invention, which likely aided industrialisation.