Fighting for Growth: Labor Scarcity and Technological Progress during the British Industrial Revolution
中文摘要
本文在工业化时期的英格兰揭示了劳动力稀缺与节省劳动技术采用之间的联系。拿破仑战争期间,超过10%的男性人口曾在军队服役。在征兵力度较大的地区,更多节约劳动的机器得到采用。以军舰沿海可达性作为工具变量的海军征兵,为劳动力稀缺提供了外生变异,表明劳动力短缺与技术采用之间的联系是因果性的。在机械技能丰富的地区,劳动力稀缺对技术采用的影响似乎更大。(JEL J24, N13, N43, N63, N73, O14, O31)
Abstract
We establish a link between labor scarcity and the adoption of laborsaving technology in industrializing England. During the Napoleonic Wars, more than 10 percent of the male population served in the armed forces. Where recruitment was heavy, more machines economizing on labor were adopted. Naval recruitment, instrumented by warships' coastal access, provides exogenous variation in labor scarcity and suggests that the link between labor shortages and adoption is causal. Where mechanical skills were abundant, the impact of labor scarcity on adoption appears to be larger. (JEL J24, N13, N43, N63, N73, O14, O31)