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From domestic manufacture to Industrial Revolution: long-run growth and agricultural development

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  • Jacob L. Weisdorf

Abstract

The classical story of industrialization always begins with agriculture: the modernization of rural institutions, involving both the enclosure of 'open fields' and a shift from peasant farming to larger scale capitalist farming, generates a rise in agricultural productivity, which in turn fuels industrial development. An emerging view, however, turns the old story on its head, arguing that agricultural improvement is a response to urban development. This paper follows the line of this emerging view, demonstrating that productivity growth in commercial manufacture is crucial to the performance of farmers and thus to the transfer of labour from agriculture to industry. Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.

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  • Jacob L. Weisdorf, 2006. "From domestic manufacture to Industrial Revolution: long-run growth and agricultural development," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 58(2), pages 264-287, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:oxecpp:v:58:y:2006:i:2:p:264-287
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    Cited by:

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    2. Ling Sun & Lilyan E. Fulginiti & E. Wesley & F. Peterson, 2007. "Accounting for agricultural decline with economic growth in Taiwan," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 36(2), pages 181-190, March.
    3. Peter Berg & Mark Staley, 2015. "Capital substitution in an industrial revolution," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 48(5), pages 1975-2004, December.
    4. Şevket Pamuk & Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2011. "Ottoman de‐industrialization, 1800–1913: assessing the magnitude, impact, and response," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 64(s1), pages 159-184, February.
    5. Tepper, Alexander & Borowiecki, Karol Jan, 2015. "Accounting for breakout in Britain: The industrial revolution through a Malthusian lens," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 219-233.
    6. Hiller, Victor, 2011. "Work organization, preferences dynamics and the industrialization process," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(7), pages 1007-1025.
    7. Jonathan Temple & Ludger Wößmann, 2006. "Dualism and cross-country growth regressions," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 187-228, September.
    8. Ken Tabata, 2013. "The Expansion of the Commercial Sector and the Child Quantity-Quality Transition in a Malthusian World," Discussion Paper Series 105, School of Economics, Kwansei Gakuin University, revised May 2013.
    9. Juan Pérez Velasco Pavón, 2014. "Economic behavior of indigenous peoples: the Mexican case," Latin American Economic Review, Springer;Centro de Investigaciòn y Docencia Económica (CIDE), vol. 23(1), pages 1-58, December.
    10. Roberto ESPOSTI, 2007. "On the Decline of Agriculture. Evidence from Italian Regions in the Post-WWII Period," Working Papers 300, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    11. Colburn, Christopher & Zhou, Haiwen, 2021. "The Partition of Production between Households and Markets," MPRA Paper 107158, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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