Working Paper: NBER ID: w12900
Authors: Sukkoo Kim
Abstract: Industrial revolution is fundamentally linked with the rise of factories and the decline of skilled artisans in manufacturing. Most scholars agree that factories as compared to artisan shops were intensive in unskilled labor. Indeed, the hallmark of the early factories is the utilization of division of labor of relatively unskilled workers. This paper explores whether the massive influx of unskilled immigrants between 1840 and 1920, by significantly increasing the ratio of unskilled to skilled labor endowment, contributed to the growth and spread of factory manufacturing in the United States. The data indicate that immigration not only contributed to the growth and spread of factories but it also contributed to the growth of cities.
Keywords: Immigration; Industrial Revolution; Urban Growth; Unskilled Labor; Factory Production
JEL Codes: F22; J23; N31; N61; O30
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| immigration (F22) | increase in unskilled to skilled labor ratio (F66) |
| increase in unskilled to skilled labor ratio (F66) | growth of factory manufacturing (N60) |
| immigration (F22) | growth of factory manufacturing (N60) |
| foreign-born population (J11) | factory organization (L23) |
| immigration (F22) | urbanization (R11) |
| foreign-born population (J11) | concentration in urban areas (R23) |