Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP17881
Authors: Hansjoachim Voth; Bruno Caprettini; Alex Trew
Abstract: We collect new data and present new evidence on the effects of labor scarcity on the adoption of labor-saving technology in industrializing England. Where the British armed forces recruited heavily, more machines that economized on labor were adopted. For purposes of identification, we focus on naval recruitment. Using warships’ ease of access to coastal locations as an instrument, we show that exogenous shocks to labor scarcity led to technology adoption. The same shocks are only weakly associated with the adoption of non-labor saving technologies. Importantly, there is also a synergy between skill abundance and labor scarcity boosting technology adoption. Where labor shortages led to the adoption of labor-saving machines, technology afterwards improved more rapidly.
Keywords: Technology Adoption; Industrial Revolution
JEL Codes: N13; N43; O14; O31; O47
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| labor scarcity + skill abundance (J24) | technology adoption (O33) |
| labor scarcity (J23) | technology adoption (O33) |
| naval recruitment (J45) | labor-saving technologies adoption (J89) |
| geographical proximity to coast (R12) | naval recruitment (J45) |
| labor scarcity (J23) | non-labor-saving technologies adoption (J89) |