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Did globalization aid industrial development in colonial India?: a study of knowledge transfer in the iron industry

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  • Roy, Tirthankar

Abstract

The paper explores the link between international economic integration and technological capability in colonial India. The example of iron industry shows that many new ideas and skills flowed into India from Europe, but not all met with commercial success. The essay suggests that in those fields in which the costs of complementary factors were relatively low, the chance of success was higher. This condition was present in the craft of the blacksmith, in which the main complementary input was craftsmanship. The condition was slow to develop in iron-smelting, where the costs of fuel, labour, capital, and carriage of ore were high in the mid-nineteenth century.

Suggested Citation

  • Roy, Tirthankar, 2009. "Did globalization aid industrial development in colonial India?: a study of knowledge transfer in the iron industry," Economic History Working Papers 27876, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:wpaper:27876
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/27876/
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Tirthankar Roy, 2002. "Acceptance of innovations in early twentieth–century Indian weaving," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 55(3), pages 507-532, August.
    2. Paul Krugman & Anthony J. Venables, 1995. "Globalization and the Inequality of Nations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(4), pages 857-880.
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    17. Stephan R. Epstein, 2004. "Property Rights to Technical Knowledge in Premodern Europe, 1300-1800," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(2), pages 382-387, May.
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    20. Roy, Tirthankar, 2008. "Knowledge and divergence from the perspective of early modern India," Journal of Global History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(3), pages 361-387, November.
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    1. Roy, Tirthankar, 2021. "Useful & reliable: technological transformation in colonial India," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 113442, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

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    JEL classification:

    • N0 - Economic History - - General
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East

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