Making waves: The Royal Navy's management of invention and innovation in steam shipping, 1815–1832 1

Abstract

This paper explores the sources of invention and innovation in steam shipping, the distribution of funding and risk between the state and the private sector, and the Royal Navy's management of innovation, during the experimental period of steam power's adoption at sea. It identifies two intersecting channels through which steam‐related innovations reached the Royal Navy. First, “packages” of innovations were embedded in the marine engines that were commissioned by the Navy from private engine‐making firms. Secondly, the Navy was spontaneously offered a gamut of ideas and inventions, which varied enormously both in potential importance and in degree of development. Although the mechanisms for dealing with these two channels were different, the end result was much the same ‐ in minimizing both the expense and the risk borne by the public sector. It was principally the private sector that was funding scientific and technological development in this sphere. Recognizing its own lack of expertise and consequent hazard, the Navy Board was developing a systematic yet flexible method of assessing steam‐related inventions ‐ which appears to have served it well.     

Economic Transformation in Russia and China: Two Comments on A Comparison

Two prominent Western observers of the economic transition and development in Russia and China evaluate and supplement the preceding paper (Malle, 2008), which compares the two economies by tracing their evolution from central planning to market-oriented systems. While in general supporting and agreeing with the premise of the comparative analysis presented in that paper, albeit pointing out some instances of disagreement, the authors add observations on the preconditions and structural differences between the countries, on the political context and framework of the transitions, as well as benchmarks for measuring China's success, and reasoned observations on the latter country's policies and sustainable growth.