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What made Britannia great? Did the Industrial Revolution make Britain a World Power?

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  • Gregory Clark

    (Department of Economics, University of California Davis)

Abstract

How much of Britain's high living standards and military power compared to its competitors in 1850 should be attributed to Britain having first experienced the Industrial Revolution? Examining data on real wages in the north and south of England, the Netherlands and Ireland in the Industrial Revolution era, this paper contends that most of the technological advances of the Industrial Revolution benefited Britain's competitors as much as Britain itself. Britain attained higher outputs per person and higher living standards before the Industrial Revolution, not because of it. Her growing military power and industrial might in the years 1740 to 1850 was instead the product of its unusually rapid population growth. Britain's rise to world dominance was a product more of the bedroom labors of British workers than of their factory toil.

Suggested Citation

  • Gregory Clark, 2006. "What made Britannia great? Did the Industrial Revolution make Britain a World Power?," Working Papers 104, University of California, Davis, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:cda:wpaper:104
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    File URL: https://repec.dss.ucdavis.edu/files/oQXrifp7SAEYvEMfYAsgvj9D/06-18.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gregory Clark, 2005. "The Condition of the Working Class in England, 1209-2004," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(6), pages 1307-1340, December.
    2. P. J. Cain & A. G. Hopkins, 1986. "Gentlemanly Capitalism and British Expansion Overseas I. The Old Colonial System, 1688-1850," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 39(4), pages 501-525, November.
    3. Clark, Gregory, 1998. "Land Hunger: Land as a Commodity and as a Status Good, England, 1500-1910," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 59-82, January.
    4. Gregory Clark, 2005. "The Condition of the Working Class in England, 1209-2004," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(6), pages 1307-1340, December.
    5. Clark, Gregory & Jacks, David, 2007. "Coal and the Industrial Revolution, 1700 1869," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(01), pages 39-72, April.
    6. Clark, Gregory, 2002. "Shelter From The Storm: Housing And The Industrial Revolution, 1550–1909," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 62(2), pages 489-511, June.
    7. P. J. Cain & A. G. Hopkins, 1980. "The Political Economy of British Expansion Overseas, 1750–1914," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 33(4), pages 463-490, November.
    8. Temin, Peter, 1997. "Two Views of the British Industrial Revolution," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 57(1), pages 63-82, March.
    9. Gregory Clark, 2001. "Farm Wages and Living Standards in the Industrial Revolution: England,1670–1869[This resea]," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 54(3), pages 477-505, August.
    10. Prados de la Escosura, Leandro, 2000. "International Comparisons of Real Product, 1820-1990: An Alternative Data Set," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 1-41, January.
    11. Peter Temin, 1996. "Two Views of the British Industrial Revolution," NBER Historical Working Papers 0081, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Clark, Gregory & Jacks, David, 2007. "Coal and the Industrial Revolution, 1700–1869," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(1), pages 39-72, April.
    13. Peter Temin, 1995. "Two views of the British Industrial Revolution," Working papers 95-26, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Department of Economics.
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • N13 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N34 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: 1913-

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