The Industrial Revolution in Miniature: The Spinning Jenny in Britain, France, and India

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The Industrial Revolution in Miniature: The Spinning Jenny in Britain, France, and India

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Robert C. Allen

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Robert Carson Allen

Abstract

This paper uses the adoption and invention of the spinning jenny as a test case to understand why the industrial revolution occurred in Britain in the eighteenth century rather than in France or India. It is shown that wages were much higher relative to capital prices in Britain than in other countries. Calculation of the profitability of adopting the spinning jenny shows that it was profitable in Britain but not in France or in India. Since the jenny was profitable to use only in Britain, it was only in Britain that it was worth incurring the costs necessary to develop it. That is why the jenny was invented in Britain but not elsewhere. Irrespective of the quality of their institutions or the progressiveness of their cultures, neither the French nor the Indians would have found it profitable to mechanize cotton production in the eighteenth century.

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Paper provided by University of Oxford, Department of Economics in its series Economics Series Working Papers with number 375.

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Date of creation: 2007
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Handle: RePEc:oxf:wpaper:375

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
N63 - Economic History - - Manufacturing and Construction - - - Europe: Pre-1913
N65 - Economic History - - Manufacturing and Construction - - - Asia including Middle East
N73 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Europe: Pre-1913
N75 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Asia including Middle East
O14 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
O31 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
O33 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

NEP-ALL-2008-03-25 (All new papers)
NEP-CWA-2008-03-25 (Central & Western Asia)
NEP-HIS-2008-03-25 (Business, Economic & Financial History)

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This page was last updated on 2008-11-17.

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