THE WHEELS OF CHANGE: TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION, MILLWRIGHTS AND THE PERSISTENCE IN BRITAIN'S INDUSTRIALISATION

Joel Mokyr; Assaf Sarid; Karine Van Der Beek

doi:10.1093/ej/ueab102

THE WHEELS OF CHANGE: TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION, MILLWRIGHTS AND THE PERSISTENCE IN BRITAIN'S INDUSTRIALISATION

Joel Mokyr
, Assaf Sarid
, Karine Van Der Beek

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of the early adoption of technology on the evolution of human capital and industrialisation. We argue that mechanical skills and competence were a main determinant of the location of industry on the eve of the Industrial Revolution. It concentrates on the case of millwrights, eighteenth-century specialists in advanced carpentry and hydraulic machinery. Millwrights were a key part of the upper tail of the distribution of mechanical abilities. Their emergence was determined by the early adoption of watermills in the Middle Ages as recorded in the Domesday Book survey (1086). Their location displays considerable persistence.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1894-1926
Number of pages	33
Journal	Economic Journal
Volume	132
Issue number	645
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/ej/ueab102
State	Published - 1 Jul 2022
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2022.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Economics and Econometrics

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10.1093/ej/ueab102

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abstract = "This paper examines the effect of the early adoption of technology on the evolution of human capital and industrialisation. We argue that mechanical skills and competence were a main determinant of the location of industry on the eve of the Industrial Revolution. It concentrates on the case of millwrights, eighteenth-century specialists in advanced carpentry and hydraulic machinery. Millwrights were a key part of the upper tail of the distribution of mechanical abilities. Their emergence was determined by the early adoption of watermills in the Middle Ages as recorded in the Domesday Book survey (1086). Their location displays considerable persistence.",

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AB - This paper examines the effect of the early adoption of technology on the evolution of human capital and industrialisation. We argue that mechanical skills and competence were a main determinant of the location of industry on the eve of the Industrial Revolution. It concentrates on the case of millwrights, eighteenth-century specialists in advanced carpentry and hydraulic machinery. Millwrights were a key part of the upper tail of the distribution of mechanical abilities. Their emergence was determined by the early adoption of watermills in the Middle Ages as recorded in the Domesday Book survey (1086). Their location displays considerable persistence.

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THE WHEELS OF CHANGE: TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION, MILLWRIGHTS AND THE PERSISTENCE IN BRITAIN'S INDUSTRIALISATION

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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