Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP14884
Authors: Morgan Kelly; Joel Mokyr; Cormac Grada
Abstract: For contemporaries, Britain’s success in developing the technologiesof the early Industrial Revolution rested in large part on its abundantsupply of artisan skills, notably in metalworking. In this paperwe outline a simple process where successful industrialization occursin regions that start with low wages and high mechanical skills, andshow that these two factors strongly explain the growth of the textileindustry across the 41 counties of England between the 1760s and1830s. By contrast, literacy and access to capital have no power in predictingindustrialization, nor does proximity to coal. Although unimportantas a source of power for early textile machinery, Britain’s coalwas vital as a source of cheap heat that allowed it over centuries to developa unique range of sophisticated metalworking industries. Fromthese activities came artisans, fromwatchmakers to iron founders, whoseindustrial skillswere in demand not just in Britain but across all of Europe.Against the view that living standards were stagnant during theIndustrial Revolution, we find that real wages rose sharply in the industrializingnorth and collapsed in the previously prosperous south.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: No JEL codes provided
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| low wages (J31) | industrialization (O14) |
| high mechanical skills (L64) | industrialization (O14) |
| low wages + high mechanical skills (J31) | textile employment (L67) |
| high wages (J31) | mechanization (L64) |
| cost of apprenticeship (J24) | mechanical skill supply (J24) |
| coal proximity (L71) | industrialization (O14) |
| real wages (J31) | living standards (I31) |