6533b85bfe1ef96bd12bbf42
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Does brick size matter? Albert G. Keller on another QWERTY story
Luca FioritoMassimiliano Vatierosubject
QWERTY keyboard; Institutional lag; Lock inHistoryEconomics and EconometricsPolymers and PlasticsLock inBusiness and International ManagementInstitutional lagQWERTY keyboardQWERTY keyboard Institutional lag Lock inIndustrial and Manufacturing EngineeringFinancedescription
In his seminal ‘‘Clio and the Economics of Qwerty’’, Paul David indicates Thorstein Veblen’s famous discussion of the British system of coal rail haulage as an intellectual antecedent to the idea of lock in. This note documents how Albert G. Keller, a Yale sociologist contemporary of Veblen, had presented a similar argument in connection to the establishment of a brick tax in England and its effects on the size of bricks. Like Veblen, Keller used this illustration to emphasize the inertia exercised by certain institutional conditions.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-01-01 | Economics Letters |