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De-skilling: Evidence from late nineteenth century American manufacturing

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  • Atack, Jeremy
  • Margo, Robert A.
  • Rhode, Paul W.

Abstract

The longstanding view in US economic history is that the shift in manufacturing in the nineteenth century from the hand labor artisan shop to the machine labor of the mechanized factory led to “labor de-skilling” – the substitution of less skilled workers, such as operatives, for skilled craft workers. Investigating the Department of Labor's 1899 Hand and Machine Labor Study, we show the adoption of inanimate power, which we call “mechanization,” did induce de-skilling at the production operation level. However, while the treatment effect of mechanization was economically and statistically significant, it accounted for only 16 percent of the de-skilling on average in the sample, using our preferred IV estimator. Broadening the scope of our inquiry, we find that variations in the division of labor, as captured by the share of production tasks performed by the average worker, accounted for a substantially larger fraction.

Suggested Citation

  • Atack, Jeremy & Margo, Robert A. & Rhode, Paul W., 2024. "De-skilling: Evidence from late nineteenth century American manufacturing," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:exehis:v:91:y:2024:i:c:s0014498323000487
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2023.101554
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mechanization; Automation; Division of labor; Labor displacement; De-skilling;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • N61 - Economic History - - Manufacturing and Construction - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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