We assemble a novel dataset linking inventors listed in the Annual Reports of the Commissioner of Patents to Population Census records spanning 1870 to 1940. We find that inventors are not a random subset of the population. They differ in some unsurprising ways in that they tend to be older, whiter, and more likely male. However, these patterns do change over time. The odds ratio relative to the population as a whole of female inventors increases from a low of 0.07 in 1880 to a high of 0.13 in 1940 and that of non-whites ranges from 0.16 in 1880 to 0.34 in 1940. Both populations remain severely underrepresented throughout the timeframe. We find changes in the occupations of inventors with trends away from farming and towards white collar occupations. We also show the increasing importance of foreign born people in patenting. In 1870, the odds of a foreign born person patenting relative to the population as a whole is nearly 1 and increases to over 1.6 by 1940.

我们组装了一个新颖的数据集，将专利专员年度报告中列出的发明人联系起来人口普查记录涵盖了1870年至1940年。我们发现发明者并不是人口的随机子集。它们在某些不足为奇的方面有所不同，因为它们倾向于年龄更大，更白，更可能是男性。但是，这些模式会随着时间而改变。相对于总体而言，女性发明人的优势比从1880年的低点0.07增加到1940年的0.13的高点，而非白人的优势比从1880年的0.16到1940年的0.34的范围。时间范围。我们发现发明家的职业发生了变化，趋势从农业转向白领职业。我们还显示了外国出生的人在专利申请中的重要性越来越高。1870年，外国出生的人相对于总体人口获得专利的几率接近1，并且超过1。