Fostering the Diffusion of General Purpose Technologies: Evidence from the Licensing of the Transistor Patents*

How do licensing and technology transfer influence the spread of General Purpose Technologies? To answer this question, we analyze diffusion transistor, one most important technologies our time. We show that transistor cross-technology spillovers increased dramatically after AT&T began its patents along with symposia to educate follow-on inventors in 1952. Both these itself played roles diffusion. A subsequent reduction royalties did not lead further increases, suggesting were more than specific royalty rates.