Paul A. David

Thinkers1935 to 2023Economic historian

Works

  • Clio and the Economics of QWERTY, American Economic Review 75(2), 1985

In Thinking Tools

Known for

An economist of technical change who made path dependence a working idea in economics. His account of the QWERTY keyboard argued that small historical events, technical interrelatedness, and increasing returns can lock an industry into a standard that persists after better alternatives appear.

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