The making and consolidation of the first national trademark system: the diffusion of trademarks across Spanish regions, 1850–1920

Patricio Sáiz*, José L. Zofío

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)
84 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This article studies the creation and consolidation of a trademark system tantamount to market integration and commercial specialization of Spanish regions from 1850 to 1920. We analyse the first 47,000 registrations, their geographical distribution and the drivers behind this trademark expansion. By using a lineal probability model, we find that knowledge spillovers across regions are associated with their relative trademark specialization and diversification. We incorporate the role played by transport infrastructure by calculating generalized transport costs. The results clarify the origins and evolution of geographical differences in commercial innovation and regional specialization in the first country to institute modern trademark legislation.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)256-275
Number of pages20
JournalRegional Studies
Volume56
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Regional Studies Association.

Funding Information:
We acknowledge financial support from the Collaborative Agreement OEPM-FUAM 2018 and from the Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation and the State Research Agency [grant number EIN2020-112260/AEI/10.13039/501100011033]. We are grateful to the guest editors of this special issue and three anonymous referees for providing useful comments and suggestions. We also benefited from conversations with Javier Barbero and Jorge Díaz-Lanchas from the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. Previous versions of this paper were presented at invited sessions held at the INGENIO seminar on the Geography of Trademarking in Spain (Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, October 2019); at the Economic History Seminars of Universidad de Valencia (October 2019); and at the Special Session on Trademarks in Space in the 5th Geography of Innovation Conference (Universitetet i Stavanger, January 2020).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Regional Studies Association.

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