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National Leadership and Competing Technological Paradigms: The Globalization of Cotton Spinning, 1878–1933

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  • Saxonhouse, Gary R.
  • Wright, Gavin

Abstract

Using the records of British firms that supplied nearly 90 percent of world trade in cotton spinning machinery, we track the evolution and diffusion of spinning technology over more than 50 years. In contrast to scenarios in which modern technologies supplant older methods, we observe two paradigms in competitive coexistence, each one supporting ongoing productivity growth through complementary improvements in machinery, organization, and workforce skills. International productivity differences were magnified under the skill-based mule, British spinners being the world's best. Global diffusion of ring spinning was driven by advances in fiber control, a “directed†technological response to the expansion of world trade.

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  • Saxonhouse, Gary R. & Wright, Gavin, 2010. "National Leadership and Competing Technological Paradigms: The Globalization of Cotton Spinning, 1878–1933," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 70(3), pages 535-566, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:70:y:2010:i:03:p:535-566_00
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. John P. Tang, 2016. "A tale of two SICs: Japanese and American industrialisation in historical perspective," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 56(2), pages 174-197, July.
    2. Tomoko HASHINO & Keijiro Otsuka, 2021. "Selective Technology Choice, Adaptations, and Industrial Development: Lessons from Japanese Historical Experience," Discussion Papers 2124, Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University.
    3. Réka Juhász & Claudia Steinwender, 2018. "Spinning the Web: The Impact of ICT on Trade in Intermediates and Technology Diffusion," NBER Working Papers 24590, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Giovanni Federico & Alessandro Nuvolari & Leonardo Ridolfi & Michelangelo Vasta, 2021. "The race between the snail and the tortoise: skill premium and early industrialization in Italy (1861–1913)," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 15(1), pages 1-42, January.
    5. Ashish Arora & Michelle Gittelman & Sarah Kaplan & John Lynch & Will Mitchell & Nicolaj Siggelkow & Serguey Braguinsky & David A. Hounshell, 2016. "History and nanoeconomics in strategy and industry evolution research: Lessons from the Meiji-Era Japanese cotton spinning industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 45-65, January.
    6. Ciliberto, Federico, 2010. "Were British cotton entrepreneurs technologically backward? Firm-level evidence on the adoption of ring spinning," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 487-504, October.
    7. Serguey Braguinsky, 2015. "Knowledge diffusion and industry growth: the case of Japan’s early cotton spinning industry," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 24(4), pages 769-790.
    8. John P. Tang, 2016. "A tale of two SICs: Japanese and American industrialisation in historical perspective," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 56(2), pages 174-197, July.
    9. Gavin Wright, 2020. "Slavery and Anglo‐American capitalism revisited," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 73(2), pages 353-383, May.

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