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Fighting for Growth: Labor Scarcity and Technological Progress During the British Industrial Revolution

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  • Voth, Hans-Joachim
  • Caprettini, Bruno
  • Trew, Alex

Abstract

We collect new data and present new evidence on the effects of labor scarcity on the adoption of labor-saving technology in industrializing England. Where the British armed forces recruited heavily, more machines that economized on labor were adopted. For purposes of identification, we focus on naval recruitment. Using warships’ ease of access to coastal locations as an instrument, we show that exogenous shocks to labor scarcity led to technology adoption. The same shocks are only weakly associated with the adoption of non-labor saving technologies. Importantly, there is also a synergy between skill abundance and labor scarcity boosting technology adoption. Where labor shortages led to the adoption of labor-saving machines, technology afterwards improved more rapidly.

Suggested Citation

  • Voth, Hans-Joachim & Caprettini, Bruno & Trew, Alex, 2023. "Fighting for Growth: Labor Scarcity and Technological Progress During the British Industrial Revolution," CEPR Discussion Papers 17881, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:17881
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    Cited by:

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    2. Behrer,Arnold Patrick, 2023. "Man or Machine ? Environmental Consequences of Wage Driven Mechanization in Indian Agriculture," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10376, The World Bank.
    3. Guillaume Blanc & Romain Wacziarg, 2025. "Malthusian Migrations," NBER Working Papers 33542, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Cardoso, Ana Rute & Morin, Louis-Philippe, 2025. "Male labor scarcity, technology adoption and female labor market integration: A quantitative and qualitative study of Portugal," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • N13 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N43 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence

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