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The great escape: The industrial revolution in theory and history
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The Industrial Revolution decisively changed productivity growth rates. For successful economies, measured efficiency growth rates increased from close to zero to more than 1% in the blink of an eye in terms of the long history of human societies: seemingly within 50 years of 1800. Yet we lack any good account of what led to this epochal change. The paper reviews recent theories of the Industrial Revolution. Can the empirical implications of these theories can be reconciled with the historical facts? I find that most, but not all, of the models reviewed are inconsistent with the basic facts of the history of the Industrial Revolution. But one class of models, emphasizing endogenous growth, seems to offer some prospects.
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... Further, we can observe that the more advanced the engineering approaches were, the higher was the observed impact on the society. In this context, the steam engine developed in 1769, was one of the results of advanced engineering that marks the initiation of the beginnings of the First Industrial Revolution, which on its turn implied the transition from a predominantly agrarian and rural society to an industrial and urban society [6] [7]. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, production was often done in individual's homes, carrying out laborious tasks using hand tools or basic machines. ...
... Malthus looked primarily at two main factors: population growth and agricultural production. Malthus did not, though, consider the unforeseen advances in technology that were triggered by the industrial revolution [6]. Yet, the development of new and innovative technologies has had an unforeseen huge effect on the agricultural output and allowed to produce more while using fewer resources ( Figure 5). ...
... In his excellent literature review, Van Neuss (2015) cites Clark (2003) to classify the existing theories on the causes of the industrial revolution as distinguished between the "exogenous growth theories", those which contend that exogenous events created the conditions needed for the industrial revolution to have taken place, the "multiple equilibrium theories", those which argue that a shock (disease, war, and so on) led the economy to move from the Malthusian equilibrium to the dynamic equilibrium, and the "endogenous growth theories", according to which the industrialization was [...] dependent on the evolution of a state variable which, beyond a certain critical threshold, triggered a new process of sustained efficiency advance (Van Neuss 2015, p. 9). ...
In this paper, we present a first modelization of Allen’s argument on the British industrial revolution with a history-friendly model heuristic. To do so, we use a macroeconomic micro-founded framework with heterogeneous agents—households, firms, and institutions—interacting through a decentralized matching process presenting standard features across five markets—labor, food, goods, services, and government bonds. We study the dynamics of the model using computer simulation. With the appropriate calibration, macroeconomic properties emerge such as endogenous business cycles and nominal GDP growth, while reproducing important stylized economic facts like the industrial revolution and Engel’s Pause.
... In those days, universal basic education was at best still in its infancy in the most advanced countries, such as the United Kingdom. In the period between the end of the First Industrial Revolution and the beginning of the Second, illiteracy rates in the UK, despite a steep decline over the first half of the nineteenth century, were still 30% among men and almost 40% among women (Clark, 2003). It is also noteworthy that, as Susanne Wiborg points out, in the UK the state's involvement in the provision of education was instituted rather late in comparison with other European countries, since basic education was in the hands of voluntary bodies, such as religious associations (Wiborg, 2009). ...
Responding to an ‘educational emergency’ generated largely by the difficulties of implementing education reforms, this book compares education policies around the world in order to understand what works where.
To address the key question of why education reforms are so difficult, the authors take into account a broad range of relevant factors, such as governance, ideology, and stakeholder conflicts of interest, and their interactions with one another.
Drawing on their experiences as policymakers in the Spanish government and as governmental advisors worldwide, Montserrat Gomendio and Jose Ignacio Wert produce a publication like no other, shifting the usual Eurocentric narrative and shedding light on frequently overlooked educational policies from elsewhere. In this context, they dive deeper into details of educational failures and successes, the processes of implementation and investment priorities in different countries. They provide revealing accounts of stakeholder conflicts of interest and the challenges of implementing educational reform during a financial crisis.
The authors also investigate why the evidence from international large-scale assessments (ILSAs) has, contrary to expectation, not generated improvements in most education systems. Gomendio and Wert investigate the evolution of different education systems, closely examining their advances or declines. Gomendio and Wert’s expert voices illuminate the current state of global education systems and the necessary changes to ensure long-awaited improvements. This is a revelatory and informative resource for policymakers, teachers and academics alike.
... In those days, universal basic education was at best still in its infancy in the most advanced countries, such as the United Kingdom. In the period between the end of the First Industrial Revolution and the beginning of the Second, illiteracy rates in the UK, despite a steep decline over the first half of the nineteenth century, were still 30% among men and almost 40% among women (Clark, 2003). It is also noteworthy that, as Susanne Wiborg points out, in the UK the state's involvement in the provision of education was instituted rather late in comparison with other European countries, since basic education was in the hands of voluntary bodies, such as religious associations (Wiborg, 2009). ...
Responding to an ‘educational emergency’ generated largely by the difficulties of implementing education reforms, this book compares education policies around the world in order to understand what works where.
To address the key question of why education reforms are so difficult, the authors take into account a broad range of relevant factors, such as governance, ideology, and stakeholder conflicts of interest, and their interactions with one another.
Drawing on their experiences as policymakers in the Spanish government and as governmental advisors worldwide, Montserrat Gomendio and Jose Ignacio Wert produce a publication like no other, shifting the usual Eurocentric narrative and shedding light on frequently overlooked educational policies from elsewhere. In this context, they dive deeper into details of educational failures and successes, the processes of implementation and investment priorities in different countries. They provide revealing accounts of stakeholder conflicts of interest and the challenges of implementing educational reform during a financial crisis.
The authors also investigate why the evidence from international large-scale assessments (ILSAs) has, contrary to expectation, not generated improvements in most education systems. Gomendio and Wert investigate the evolution of different education systems, closely examining their advances or declines. Gomendio and Wert’s expert voices illuminate the current state of global education systems and the necessary changes to ensure long-awaited improvements. This is a revelatory and informative resource for policymakers, teachers and academics alike.
... Industrial revolution is considered as the second most debated issue after human evolution, evolving from the first to most current the fourth industrial revolution (Stearns, 2018). The term industrial revolution itself refers to the development of the industries from both economic and nature in which it operates (Clark, 2003(Clark, , 2014. ...
Each industrial revolution exhibits certain requirement that involves in the thriving of the revolution.
In the latest industrial revolution known as Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) which is based on the development and advancement of internet and cyber technology. The key motivation for the current revolution relies on the production and creation of products and services that are innovative and creative in nature. Therefore, innovation and creativity is evidently a significant factor that contributes to the development of IR 4.0, furthermore it enables innovative work behaviour to cater for the development of a sound workforce. Hence, this theoretical paper is aimed at exploring and understanding the innovative work behaviour on IR 4.0.
... Industrial revolution is considered as the second most debated issue after human evolution, evolving from the first to most current the fourth industrial revolution (Stearns, 2018). The term industrial revolution itself refers to the development of the industries from both economic and nature in which it operates (Clark, 2003(Clark, , 2014. ...
Each industrial revolution exhibits certain requirement that involves in the thriving of the revolution. In the latest industrial revolution known as Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) which is based on the development and advancement of internet and cyber technology. The key motivation for the current revolution relies on the production and creation of products and services that are innovative and creative in nature. Therefore, innovation and creativity is evidently a significant factor that contributes to the development of IR 4.0, furthermore it enables innovative work behaviour to cater for the development of a sound workforce. Hence, this theoretical paper is aimed at exploring and understanding the innovative work behaviour on IR 4.0.
... The paper also challenges the simplest two-sector view of most "industrial revolution" models where the two sectors are labeled "manufacturing" and "agriculture" and both are traded goods. 33 Such models have been criticized for their poor match with the British historical patterns (Clark 2002;Voth 2003), not least because the assumed divergence in productivity between manufacturing and agriculture is not clear in the data. 34 Lacking a nontraded sector such models obviously cannot match the patterns in the data studied here. ...
The impact of AI on labor is a highly discussed topic in the academic and public debates. We comb AI and labor, including the characters of AI and its advantages, show the research of Industrial Revolution productivity advance. We give some evidence on the application of AI in developed countries and developing countries. Furthermore, we analyze the effects of AI on labor in China.
It was a commonplace among contemporaries, and remains received wisdom today, that inventors were poorly remunerated during the industrial revolution. Adapting a dataset of 759 British inventors, this article presents the first large‐scale attempt to examine the issue systematically. Using probate information, the article shows that inventors were extremely wealthy relative to the adult male population. Inventors were also significantly wealthier than another group who would have received a similar inheritance (in terms of both financial and social capital) and entered similar occupations: their brothers. Their additional wealth was derived from inventive activities: invention paid.
Growth in this model is driven by technological change that arises from intentional investment decisions made by profit-maximizing agents. The distinguishing feature of the technology as an input is that it is neither a conventional good nor a public good; it is a nonrival, partially excludable good. Because of the nonconvexity introduced by a nonrival good, price-taking competition cannot be supported. Instead, the equilibrium is one with monopolistic competition. The main conclusions are that the stock of human capital determines the rate of growth, that too little human capital is devoted to research in equilibrium, that integration into world markets will increase growth rates, and that having a large population is not sufficient to generate growth.
Intellectual property issues involving both old and new technologies are pressing and controversial in contemporary scientific and technical culture.' Yet the historical development of the concept of intellectual property itself needs far more study. As it pertains to technology, "intellectual property" involves particular attitudes toward craft knowledge and practice, invention, and authorship, and is properly studied within the context of these intrinsically related issues. A complex background of intellectual history precedes the origin of the limited monopoly that is called a patent. "Intellectual property," a legal concept, refers to various kinds of intangible property. With reference to technology, it involves the belief that knowledge of craft processes and techniques and the development of technological innovations are forms of property with commercial value that are separate from products or devices.2 Intellectual property laws grant limited monopolies under certain conditions for particular kinds of authorship. Most modern legal systems distinguish between patents and copyrights. Yet to project this distinction too DR. LONG is a tutor at St. John's College, Annapolis, Maryland. She is working on a book concerning the issues of openness, secrecy, authorship, and intellectual property in pre-17th-century writings on the practical and military arts. Aspects of the research were presented at the 1990 SHOT meeting in Cleveland. She gratefully acknowledges
I. Introduction, 65. — II. A model of long-run growth, 66. — III. Possible growth patterns, 68. — IV. Examples, 73. — V. Behavior
of interest and wage rates, 78. — VI. Extensions, 85. — VII. Qualifications, 91.
Among countries colonized by European powers during the past 500 years, those that were relatively rich in 1500 are now relatively
poor. We document this reversal using data on urbanization patterns and population density, which, we argue, proxy for economic
prosperity. This reversal weighs against a view that links economic development to geographic factors. Instead, we argue that
the reversal reflects changes in the institutions resulting from European colonialism. The European intervention appears to
have created an “institutional reversal” among these societies, meaning that Europeans were more likely to introduce institutions
encouraging investment in regions that were previously poor. This institutional reversal accounts for the reversal in relative
incomes. We provide further support for this view by documenting that the reversal in relative incomes took place during the
late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and resulted from societies with good institutions taking advantage of the
opportunity to industrialize.