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Quality, Technology, and Dexterity. Female Silk-Spinning Manufacture in Barcelona at the End of the Old Regime

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  • Nogues-Marco, Pilar

Abstract

This article analyses the Female Silk Spinning Apprenticeship School of the Barcelona Board of Trade (1784-1792) to explore the intersections between technological change, spinners’ dexterity, and yarn quality. Dexterity was crucial for performing high-quality silk spinning, but the piece-rate remuneration system incentivised spinners to work as fast as possible, thereby downgrading the quality. In the prelude to the Industrial Revolution, the shift from hand spinning to mechanised spinning was a gradual process of technological innovation in which silk yarn’s quality depended on technology, spinners’ dexterity and the interaction with the institutional framework that either encouraged yarn quality through daily wages or discouraged it through piece-rates.

Suggested Citation

  • Nogues-Marco, Pilar, 2023. "Quality, Technology, and Dexterity. Female Silk-Spinning Manufacture in Barcelona at the End of the Old Regime," Working Papers unige:174183, University of Geneva, Paul Bairoch Institute of Economic History.
    • Handle: RePEc:gnv:wpaper:unige:174183
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Montserrat Carbonell-Esteller & Julie Marfany, 2017. "Gender, life cycle, and family ‘strategies’ among the poor: the Barcelona workhouse, 1762–1805," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 70(3), pages 810-836, August.
    2. Allen,Robert C., 2009. "The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521868273, November.
    3. Mokyr, Joel, 2005. "The Intellectual Origins of Modern Economic Growth," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 65(2), pages 285-351, June.
    4. Jane Humphries & Benjamin Schneider, 2019. "Spinning the industrial revolution," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 72(1), pages 126-155, February.
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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
    • N83 - Economic History - - Micro-Business History - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • N0 - Economic History - - General

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