文化多样性如何驱动创新: 美国历史上的姓氏与专利

Journal of Political Economy · 2025 · [{"name": "Max Posch", "affiliation": []}, {"name": "Jonathan Schulz", "affiliation": []}, {"name": "Joseph Henrich", "affiliation": []}]

中文摘要

本文考察文化多样性对创新的影响。聚焦1850年至1940年的美国，我们构建了一种新的基于姓氏的文化多样性度量，并将其与专利数据相结合。利用历史移民驱动的县级姓氏构成中的准随机变异，我们发现，多样性的上升既增加了县域内以及个体发明人的创新数量，也提升了创新质量。在考察机制时，我们提供的证据表明，更高的姓氏多样性通过扩大可供重组的思想、技能与视角范围，并通过促进有助于思想分享的多样化社会互动，从而加速了创新。

Abstract

<p dir="ltr">This paper examines the impact of cultural diversity on innovation. Focusing on the United States from 1850 to 1940, we develop a novel surname-based measure of cultural diversity and combine this with patent data. Leveraging quasi-random variation in counties' surname compositions driven by historical immigration, we find that rising diversity increased both the quantity and quality of innovation within counties and for individual inventors. Examining mechanisms, we provide evidence suggesting that greater surname diversity accelerated innovation both by expanding the range of ideas, skills and perspectives available for recombination and by fostering the diverse social interactions that facilitate idea sharing.