IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hig/wpaper/199-hum-2020.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Not Backward: Comparative Labour Productivity In British And Russian Manufacturing, Circa 1908

Author

Listed:
  • Nikita I. Lychakov

    (National Research University Higher School of Economics)

  • Dmitrii L. Saprykin

    (Russian Academy of Sciences)

  • Nadia Vanteeva

    (University of Ontario Institute of Technology)

Abstract

Using data from official manufacturing censuses, we compare labour productivity in Great Britain and the Russian Empire around 1908. We find that Russia’s labour productivity was at 81.9 percent of the U.K. level. Russia’s productivity was on a par with France’s and significantly superior to Italy’s. We also find that the majority of Russian industries underperformed British ones. However, the industries that had been established or modernised during the state-induced industrialisation policies of the 1890s, such as the Southern metallurgy, performed on a par with their British counterparts. Russia’s alcohol, tobacco, and petrochemical sectors outperformed their British equivalents. Our findings suggest a revision of the view that, at the turn of the 20th century, Russian manufacturing was economically underdeveloped.

Suggested Citation

  • Nikita I. Lychakov & Dmitrii L. Saprykin & Nadia Vanteeva, 2020. "Not Backward: Comparative Labour Productivity In British And Russian Manufacturing, Circa 1908," HSE Working papers WP BRP 199/HUM/2020, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hig:wpaper:199/hum/2020
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://wp.hse.ru/data/2020/12/10/1356605277/199HUM2020.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Broadberry, Stephen & Burhop, Carsten, 2007. "Comparative Productivity in British and German Manufacturing Before World War II: Reconciling Direct Benchmark Estimates and Time Series Projections," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 67(2), pages 315-349, June.
    2. Amanda G. Gregg, 2020. "Factory Productivity and the Concession System of Incorporation in Late Imperial Russia, 1894–1908," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(2), pages 401-427, February.
    3. Anton Cheremukhin & Mikhail Golosov & Sergei Guriev & Aleh Tsyvinski, 2017. "The Industrialization and Economic Development of Russia through the Lens of a Neoclassical Growth Model," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 84(2), pages 613-649.
    4. repec:zbw:bofitp:2020_026 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Ritschl, Albrecht, 2008. "The Anglo-German productivity puzzle, 1895-1935: a restatement and a possible resolution," Economic History Working Papers 22309, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    6. Kulikov, Volodymyr, 2017. "The Hundred Largest Employers in the Russian Empire, circa 1913," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 91(4), pages 735-765, December.
    7. Amanda G Gregg, 2020. "Vertical and horizontal integration in Imperial Russian cotton textiles, 1894–1900," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 24(1), pages 157-191.
    8. G. Warren Nutter & Israel Borenstein & Adam Kaufman, 1962. "Growth of Industrial Production in the Soviet Union," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number nutt62-1, March.
    9. Volodymyr Kulikov & Martin Kragh, 2019. "Big business in the Russian empire: A European perspective," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 61(2), pages 299-321, February.
    10. Burhop, Carsten, 2008. "The level of labour productivity in German mining, crafts and industry in 1913: evidence from output data," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(2), pages 201-219, August.
    11. Crafts, N. F. R., 1984. "Economic Growth in France and Britain, 1830–1910: A Review of the Evidence," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(1), pages 49-67, March.
    12. Broadberry, Stephen N. & Irwin, Douglas A., 2006. "Labor productivity in the United States and the United Kingdom during the nineteenth century," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 257-279, April.
    13. Ritschl, Albrecht, 2008. "The Anglo-German Industrial Productivity Puzzle, 1895–1935: A Restatement and a Possible Resolution," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 68(2), pages 535-565, June.
    14. Dormois,Jean-Pierre, 2004. "The French Economy in the Twentieth Century," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521660921.
    15. Broadberry, Stephen & Burhop, Carsten, 2010. "Real Wages and Labor Productivity in Britain and Germany, 1871–1938: A Unified Approach to the International Comparison of Living Standards," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 70(2), pages 400-427, June.
    16. Ritschl, Albrecht, 2008. "The Anglo-German industrial productivity puzzle, 1895-1935: a restatement and a possible resolution," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 41339, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    17. Dormois,Jean-Pierre, 2004. "The French Economy in the Twentieth Century," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521667876.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Joost Veenstra & Herman Jong, 2016. "A Tale of Two Tails: Establishment Size and Labour Productivity in United States and German Manufacturing at the Start of the Twentieth Century," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 56(2), pages 198-220, July.
    2. Stephen Broadberry & Carsten Burhop, 2008. "Resolving the Anglo-German Industrial Productivity Puzzle, 1895-1935: A Response to Professor Ritschl," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2008_27, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    3. Fremdling, Rainer, 2018. "Statistik und Organisation der NS-Kriegswirtschaft und der DDR-Planwirtschaft 1933-1949/50 [Statistics and Organization of the NS-War Economy and the East-German Planned Economy 1933-1949/50]," MPRA Paper 87664, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Veenstra, Joost, 2015. "Output growth in German manufacturing, 1907–1936. A reinterpretation of time-series evidence," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 38-49.
    5. Cristiano Andrea Ristuccia & Adam Tooze, 2013. "Machine tools and mass production in the armaments boom: Germany and the United States, 1929–44," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 66(4), pages 953-974, November.
    6. repec:zbw:bofitp:2020_007 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Rainer Fremdling & Reiner Staeglin, 2014. "Editor's choice Output, national income, and expenditure: an input–output table of Germany in 1936," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 18(4), pages 371-397.
    8. Jaworski, Taylor, 2020. "Specification and structure in economic history," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    9. Gregg, Amanda & Nafziger, Steven, 2020. "Financing nascent industry: Leverage, politics, and performance in Imperial Russia," BOFIT Discussion Papers 7/2020, Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    10. Brigitte Granville & Jaume Martorell Cruz & Martha Prevezer, 2015. "Elites, Thickets and Institutions: French Resistance versus German Adaptation to Economic Change, 1945-2015," Working Papers 63, Queen Mary, University of London, School of Business and Management, Centre for Globalisation Research.
    11. Joost Veenstra & Herman de Jong, 2015. "A Tale of Two Tails: Plant Size Variation and Comparative Labor Productivity in U.S. and German Manufacturing in the Early 20th Century," CEH Discussion Papers 032, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    12. Joseph Halevi, 2019. "Europe 1957 to 1979: From the Common Market to the European Monetary System," Working Papers Series 101, Institute for New Economic Thinking.
    13. Guillaume Daudin, 2005. "France," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-01065990, HAL.
    14. Joseph Halevi, 2019. "The Political Economy of Europe since 1945: A Kaleckian perspective," Working Papers Series 100, Institute for New Economic Thinking.
    15. Kufenko, Vadim & Khaustova, Ekaterina & Geloso, Vincent, 2022. "Escape underway: Malthusian pressures in late imperial Moscow," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    16. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/694 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Broadberry, Stephen & Klein, Alexander, 2011. "When and why did eastern European economies begin to fail? Lessons from a Czechoslovak/UK productivity comparison, 1921-1991," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 37-52, January.
    18. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/694 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Franck, Raphaël & Asmus, Gerda, 2022. "State Capacity, National Economic Policies and Local Development: The Russian State in the Southern Urals," CEPR Discussion Papers 17103, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Viktor Malein, 2021. "Human Capital and Industrialization: German Settlers in Late Imperial Russia," Working Papers 0221, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    21. Martin Chick, 2006. "The marginalist approach and the making of fuel policy in France and Britain, 1945–72," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 59(1), pages 143-167, February.
    22. Joseph Halevi, 2019. "From the EMS to the EMU and... to China," Working Papers Series 102, Institute for New Economic Thinking.
    23. Miguel Martín-Retortillo & Vicente Pinilla, 2013. "Patterns and causes of growth of European agricultural production, 1950-2005," Documentos de Trabajo (DT-AEHE) 1302, Asociación Española de Historia Económica.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    labour productivity; Great Britain; Imperial Russia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General
    • N63 - Economic History - - Manufacturing and Construction - - - Europe: Pre-1913

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hig:wpaper:199/hum/2020. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Shamil Abdulaev or Shamil Abdulaev (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/hsecoru.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.