[1] In particular, he examined the influence of factor endowments on economic development in the New World[2][3] and the role of 19th century United States patent law in encouraging innovation.

In a series of influential papers coauthored with Stanley Engerman, Sokoloff studied the impact of countries' initial factor endowments on their later political and economic development.

[3] In Sokoloff and Engerman's paper "Institutions, Factors, Endowments, and Paths of Development in the New World," they outlined their theories about the effects of wealth, human capital, and political power disparity on economic growth.

For instance, with Zorina Khan, Sokoloff examined the careers of 160 "great inventors" credited with significant technological discoveries during the early American industrialization.

[4] On the other hand, Sokoloff, with Naomi Lamoreaux, found that over time the capital requirements associated with invention became prohibitively high, leading to firms taking over much of the innovative activity that was previously undertaken by individual entrepreneurs.