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Infant Industry Protection and the Growth of Canada's Cotton Mills: A Test of the Chang Hypothesis

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  • Michael N.A. Hinton

    (The Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis (RCEA), Italy)

Abstract

I argue that the 19th century Canadian cotton textile industry was an extremely successful infant industry. Judging the industry's performance by seven widely-employed measures of success – growth in output, contemporary opinion, size, the use of the most modern machinery, exports, and relative total factor productivity – it is shown that the growth of Canada's cotton mills provides strong support for Chang's provocative hypothesis that infant industry protection was the way the rich countries of today grew rich in the nineteenth century.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael N.A. Hinton, 2012. "Infant Industry Protection and the Growth of Canada's Cotton Mills: A Test of the Chang Hypothesis," Working Paper series 55_12, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    • Handle: RePEc:rim:rimwps:55_12
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    File URL: http://www.rcea.org/RePEc/pdf/wp55_12.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ian Keay & Kris Inwood, 2006. "Assessing Economic Performance Among North American Manufacturing Establishments, 1870/71: Data, Methodology And Measurement Issues," Working Paper 1030, Economics Department, Queen's University.
    2. Scheinberg, Stephen, 1973. "Invitation to Empire: Tariffs and American Economic Expansion in Canada," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 47(2), pages 218-238, July.
    3. Baldwin, John R. Green, Alan G., 2008. "The Productivity Differential Between the Canadian and U.S. Manufacturing Sectors: A Perspective Drawn from the Early 20th Century," The Canadian Productivity Review 2008022e, Statistics Canada, Economic Analysis Division.
    4. Harley, C. Knick, 2001. "The Antebellum Tariff: Different Products Or Competing Sources? A Comment On Irwin And Temin," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 61(03), pages 799-805, September.
    5. Broadberry,Steve N., 2005. "The Productivity Race," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521023580, September.
    6. Clark, Gregory, 1987. "Why Isn't the Whole World Developed? Lessons from the Cotton Mills," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 47(1), pages 141-173, March.
    7. Fogel, Robert William, 1967. "The Specification Problem in Economic History," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(3), pages 283-308, September.
    8. Gregory Clark, 2007. "Introduction to A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World," Introductory Chapters, in: A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World, Princeton University Press.
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    Cited by:

    1. Michael Hinton & Thomas Barbiero, 2012. "Is Protection Good or Bad for Growth? Lessons from Canada's Cotton Textile Mills," Working Papers 036, Toronto Metropolitan University, Department of Economics, revised Oct 2012.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Infant Industry Protection; Total Factor Productivity; Cotton Textiles;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • L67 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Other Consumer Nondurables: Clothing, Textiles, Shoes, and Leather Goods; Household Goods; Sports Equipment
    • N60 - Economic History - - Manufacturing and Construction - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • N61 - Economic History - - Manufacturing and Construction - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology

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