In the conventional pinch effect an ionized gas is enclosed by a conducting cylinder, and a sufficiently large current passing through the gas and returning along the inner wall of the cylinder produces a magnetic field which compresses the gas into an axial filament. A device is described which produces an inverse pinch effect. Here the above conducting cylinder is replaced by an axial rod surrounded by the ionized gas. When a current passes through the gas and returns along the rod the magnetic field pushes the plasma outward, leaving a cylindrical vacuum region behind. The velocity and thickness of the expanding plasma front have been studied optically and by means of magnetic probes. Except at the highest gas densities, the velocity is in good agreement with the ``snow plow'' theory of Rosenbluth, and the thickness of the front is reasonably consistent with the ``snow plow'' model. At the higher densities it appears that diffusion of magnetic field into the plasma is significant. The advantages of the inverse pinch effect in studying plasma behavior and the idea of a magnetically stabilized inverse pinch are discussed.