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The Mechanics of the Industrial Revolution

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  • Morgan Kelly
  • Joel Mokyr
  • Cormac Ó Gráda

Abstract

Although there are many competing explanations for the Industrial Revolution, there has been no effort to evaluate them econometrically. This paper analyzes how the very different patterns of growth across the counties of England between the 1760s and 1830s can be explained by a wide range of potential variables. We find that industrialization occurred in areas that began with low wages but high mechanical skills, whereas other variables, such as literacy, banks, and proximity to coal, have little explanatory power. Against the view that living standards were stagnant during the Industrial Revolution, we find that real wages rose sharply in the industrializing north and declined in the previously prosperous south.

Suggested Citation

  • Morgan Kelly & Joel Mokyr & Cormac Ó Gráda, 2023. "The Mechanics of the Industrial Revolution," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 131(1), pages 59-94.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jpolec:doi:10.1086/720890
    DOI: 10.1086/720890
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    Cited by:

    1. Nuvolari, Alessandro & Tartari, Valentina & Tranchero, Matteo, 2021. "Patterns of innovation during the Industrial Revolution: A reappraisal using a composite indicator of patent quality," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    2. Chilosi, David & Lecce, Giampaolo & Wallis, Patrick, 2025. "Smithian growth in Britain before the Industrial Revolution, 1500-1800," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 128849, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Ahmed, Fatma, 2025. "Ice roads and income in remote indigenous communities of Canada," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    4. Torrent-Sellens, Joan, 2024. "Digital transition, data-and-tasks crowd-based economy, and the shared social progress: Unveiling a new political economy from a European perspective," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    5. Paker, Meredith & Stephenson, Judy & Wallis, Patrick, 2025. "Predictive modeling the past," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 128852, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Kelly, Morgan & Ó Gráda, Cormac, 2022. "Connecting the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions: The Role of Practical Mathematics," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 82(3), pages 841-873, September.
    7. de Pleijt, Alexandra M. & Frankema, Ewout, 2025. "The deeper roots of human capital formation and economic development in Southeast Asia, 1900–2000," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    8. Francesco Cinnirella & Elona Harka, 2025. "From Chalkboards to Steam Engines: Early Adoption of Compulsory Schooling, Innovation, and Industrialization," CESifo Working Paper Series 12043, CESifo.
    9. Harris, Edwyna & La Croix, Sumner, 2021. "Understanding the gains to capitalists from colonization: Lessons from Robert E. Lucas, Jr., Karl Marx and Edward Gibbon Wakefield," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 348-359.
    10. Madsen, Jakob & Strulik, Holger, 2024. "Inequality and the Industrial Revolution," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    11. Charlotte Chapelain & Ralf A. Wilke, 2025. "Spatial patterns of steam technology diffusion in nineteenth-century France," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 19(3), pages 561-590, September.
    12. Dylan Shane Connor & Tom Kemeny & Michael Storper, 2024. "Frontier workers and the seedbeds of inequality and prosperity," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 24(3), pages 393-414.
    13. repec:osf:socarx:d93sj_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Rota, Mauro & Spinesi, Luca, 2024. "Economic growth before the Industrial Revolution: Rural production and guilds in the European Little Divergence," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    15. Vitor Gaspar, 2025. "Daniel Susskind: Growth: A History and A Reckoning," Business Economics, Palgrave Macmillan;National Association for Business Economics, vol. 60(2), pages 120-122, April.

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