James Halteman and Edd Noell
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199763702
- eISBN:
- 9780199932252
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199763702.003.0005
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Financial Economics
Following Adam Smith’s vision of a self-regulating moral economy the focus turned toward these self-regulating features and away from moral concerns. The chapter traces the development of the ...
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Following Adam Smith’s vision of a self-regulating moral economy the focus turned toward these self-regulating features and away from moral concerns. The chapter traces the development of the classical and neoclassical economists who emphasized the rational discovery of underlying natural principles in a social order and the fitting of human law to those principles. The Industrial Revolution brought with it issues of income distribution and controversy over whether poor people should receive public assistance. Population growth was viewed by many as an inevitable deterrent to increases in living standards. Bentham’s utility view of value and Marshall’s merging of supply and demand cemented the neoclassical view of value and left moral questions to the philosophers and theologians. Finding equilibrium states rather than economic processes became the research agenda. Vignettes on “Alfred Marshall and the Value of Something” and “Mill: The Life of Homo EconomicusIs Depressing at Best” conclude the chapter.Less
Following Adam Smith’s vision of a self-regulating moral economy the focus turned toward these self-regulating features and away from moral concerns. The chapter traces the development of the classical and neoclassical economists who emphasized the rational discovery of underlying natural principles in a social order and the fitting of human law to those principles. The Industrial Revolution brought with it issues of income distribution and controversy over whether poor people should receive public assistance. Population growth was viewed by many as an inevitable deterrent to increases in living standards. Bentham’s utility view of value and Marshall’s merging of supply and demand cemented the neoclassical view of value and left moral questions to the philosophers and theologians. Finding equilibrium states rather than economic processes became the research agenda. Vignettes on “Alfred Marshall and the Value of Something” and “Mill: The Life of Homo EconomicusIs Depressing at Best” conclude the chapter.
Jan De Vries
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263471
- eISBN:
- 9780191734786
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263471.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter examines the scope and intensity of productive labour and its relationship to consumer aspirations. It demonstrates that changes in consumption demands play a role in the process of ...
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This chapter examines the scope and intensity of productive labour and its relationship to consumer aspirations. It demonstrates that changes in consumption demands play a role in the process of industrialization. The first ‘industrious revolution’ within the household sector reinforced significant changes in business organization, affecting both the international wholesale trade and the retail provision of goods. This phenomenon paved the way for the Industrial Revolution, which was advanced by new technologies and changes in organization.Less
This chapter examines the scope and intensity of productive labour and its relationship to consumer aspirations. It demonstrates that changes in consumption demands play a role in the process of industrialization. The first ‘industrious revolution’ within the household sector reinforced significant changes in business organization, affecting both the international wholesale trade and the retail provision of goods. This phenomenon paved the way for the Industrial Revolution, which was advanced by new technologies and changes in organization.
Olav Wicken
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199551552
- eISBN:
- 9780191720819
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199551552.003.0002
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Political Economy, Innovation
The national innovation system (NIS) of Norway is characterized by diversity. This chapter examines the multiple and heterogeneous historical processes, each defined as a path, that have given rise ...
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The national innovation system (NIS) of Norway is characterized by diversity. This chapter examines the multiple and heterogeneous historical processes, each defined as a path, that have given rise to such diversity. Each of the paths has involved specific types of social groups, organizations, knowledge bases, and institutional set-ups, and for each path a specific type of innovation structure has been developed. The chapter defines three main historical paths emerging from three major industrial transformation processes in Western history defined as Industrial Revolutions. Each of these transformations created new industrial paths constituting a new layer in the economy. The Norwegian NIS is therefore described as the historical outcome of three diverse paths and consisting of three distinct layers. The creation of a new path does not indicate that the old paths of the economy remain static. Rather, each path historically has undergone radical transformation processes in order to remain competitive in changing environments. The main dynamics of the innovation system are therefore linked to path transformation and path creation processes.Less
The national innovation system (NIS) of Norway is characterized by diversity. This chapter examines the multiple and heterogeneous historical processes, each defined as a path, that have given rise to such diversity. Each of the paths has involved specific types of social groups, organizations, knowledge bases, and institutional set-ups, and for each path a specific type of innovation structure has been developed. The chapter defines three main historical paths emerging from three major industrial transformation processes in Western history defined as Industrial Revolutions. Each of these transformations created new industrial paths constituting a new layer in the economy. The Norwegian NIS is therefore described as the historical outcome of three diverse paths and consisting of three distinct layers. The creation of a new path does not indicate that the old paths of the economy remain static. Rather, each path historically has undergone radical transformation processes in order to remain competitive in changing environments. The main dynamics of the innovation system are therefore linked to path transformation and path creation processes.
Sidney Pollard
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198206385
- eISBN:
- 9780191677106
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198206385.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Economic History
The momentum of the British industrial revolution arose mostly in regions that were poorly endowed by nature, badly located, and considered backward and poor by contemporaries. This book examines the ...
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The momentum of the British industrial revolution arose mostly in regions that were poorly endowed by nature, badly located, and considered backward and poor by contemporaries. This book examines the initially surprising contribution made by the population of these and other ‘marginal areas’ (mountains, forests, and marshes) to the economic development of Europe since the Middle Ages. The author provides case studies of periods in which marginal areas took the lead in economic development, such as the Dutch economy in its Golden Age and the British industrial revolution. The traditional perception of the populations inhabiting these regions was that they were poor, backward, and intellectually inferior; but the author shows how they also had certain peculiar qualities which predisposed them to initiate progress. Healthy living, freedom, a martial spirit, and the hardiness to survive in harsh conditions enabled them to contribute a unique pioneering ability to pivotal economic periods, illustrating some of the effects of geography upon the development of societies.Less
The momentum of the British industrial revolution arose mostly in regions that were poorly endowed by nature, badly located, and considered backward and poor by contemporaries. This book examines the initially surprising contribution made by the population of these and other ‘marginal areas’ (mountains, forests, and marshes) to the economic development of Europe since the Middle Ages. The author provides case studies of periods in which marginal areas took the lead in economic development, such as the Dutch economy in its Golden Age and the British industrial revolution. The traditional perception of the populations inhabiting these regions was that they were poor, backward, and intellectually inferior; but the author shows how they also had certain peculiar qualities which predisposed them to initiate progress. Healthy living, freedom, a martial spirit, and the hardiness to survive in harsh conditions enabled them to contribute a unique pioneering ability to pivotal economic periods, illustrating some of the effects of geography upon the development of societies.
Peter Temin and Hans-Joachim Voth
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199944279
- eISBN:
- 9780199980789
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199944279.003.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
The book asks when financial development is good for growth. It turns to industrializing England for an answer, using London goldsmith bankers as a case study. The book traces the early history of ...
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The book asks when financial development is good for growth. It turns to industrializing England for an answer, using London goldsmith bankers as a case study. The book traces the early history of domestic banking in eighteenth-century London. It reveals how goldsmiths learned to be bankers in the tumultuous early years of the century, how a few of them prospered in the South Sea Bubble, and how the banks operated after mid-century. Financial repression by the government—a response to the pressing need to finance ever longer and more expensive wars—was a key constraint for private financial development. The usury laws restricted the ability to lend; war-time borrowing shocks crowded out private loans. Based on new evidence from historical bank archives, especially those of Hoare's Bank, the authors compile a rich new dataset with micro-level information on lending decisions, cash ratios, and profitability. Their conclusions shed light on one of the great unsolved puzzles of the Industrial Revolution—if technological change was fast, why was growth itself slow? Their answer emphasizes the important difficulties thrown up the institutional context in Hanoverian England—a “warfare state” bent on repressing financial development to facilitate its access to private savings.Less
The book asks when financial development is good for growth. It turns to industrializing England for an answer, using London goldsmith bankers as a case study. The book traces the early history of domestic banking in eighteenth-century London. It reveals how goldsmiths learned to be bankers in the tumultuous early years of the century, how a few of them prospered in the South Sea Bubble, and how the banks operated after mid-century. Financial repression by the government—a response to the pressing need to finance ever longer and more expensive wars—was a key constraint for private financial development. The usury laws restricted the ability to lend; war-time borrowing shocks crowded out private loans. Based on new evidence from historical bank archives, especially those of Hoare's Bank, the authors compile a rich new dataset with micro-level information on lending decisions, cash ratios, and profitability. Their conclusions shed light on one of the great unsolved puzzles of the Industrial Revolution—if technological change was fast, why was growth itself slow? Their answer emphasizes the important difficulties thrown up the institutional context in Hanoverian England—a “warfare state” bent on repressing financial development to facilitate its access to private savings.
Michael Veseth
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195064209
- eISBN:
- 9780199854998
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195064209.003.0005
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter examines the British experience with structural change and fiscal crisis, before dealing with the postwar United States. The rise and decline of Victorian Britain is a variation on the ...
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This chapter examines the British experience with structural change and fiscal crisis, before dealing with the postwar United States. The rise and decline of Victorian Britain is a variation on the theme of structural change and fiscal crisis played out in the case of Renaissance Florence. History did not repeat itself in Victorian Britain, but certain underlying themes of human nature can be found in these two important periods. Britain adapted extremely well to one set of very large structural changes, the ones that created the Industrial Revolution. However, the patterns that led to that success became rigid and prevented Britain from responding to a second set of structural changes late in the nineteenth century. The result was that Britain, like Florence, was overtaken by other nations and slipped from the top rank.Less
This chapter examines the British experience with structural change and fiscal crisis, before dealing with the postwar United States. The rise and decline of Victorian Britain is a variation on the theme of structural change and fiscal crisis played out in the case of Renaissance Florence. History did not repeat itself in Victorian Britain, but certain underlying themes of human nature can be found in these two important periods. Britain adapted extremely well to one set of very large structural changes, the ones that created the Industrial Revolution. However, the patterns that led to that success became rigid and prevented Britain from responding to a second set of structural changes late in the nineteenth century. The result was that Britain, like Florence, was overtaken by other nations and slipped from the top rank.
Chris Freeman and Francisco Louçã
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199251056
- eISBN:
- 9780191596278
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199251053.003.0005
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
The available statistics show that there was a sharp acceleration of the growth of British industrial output, investment, and trade in the last few decades of the eighteenth century, justifying the ...
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The available statistics show that there was a sharp acceleration of the growth of British industrial output, investment, and trade in the last few decades of the eighteenth century, justifying the general use of the expression ‘Industrial Revolution’ and refuting the efforts of a few historians to deny its very occurrence.In particular, the extraordinarily rapid growth of output and exports of the cotton industry was widely remarked upon both at the time and ever since, and was generally and plausibly attributed to a series of inventions and innovations, which increased productivity per hour of work by more than an order of magnitude and made possible rapidly descending costs and prices.Only a little less rapid was the growth of the British iron industry, its rate of technical change, and its widening range of applications throughout the economy.These exceptionally dynamic industries made an outstanding contribution to the growth of the economy as a whole based on water‐powered mechanization and a new transport infrastructure of canals, rivers, and roads.Finally, British leadership in the Industrial Revolution must be attributed not only to these changes in technology and in the economy but also to the confluence and congruence of these changes with developments in the political and cultural subsystems particularly favourable to science, technology, and entrepreneurship.Less
The available statistics show that there was a sharp acceleration of the growth of British industrial output, investment, and trade in the last few decades of the eighteenth century, justifying the general use of the expression ‘Industrial Revolution’ and refuting the efforts of a few historians to deny its very occurrence.
In particular, the extraordinarily rapid growth of output and exports of the cotton industry was widely remarked upon both at the time and ever since, and was generally and plausibly attributed to a series of inventions and innovations, which increased productivity per hour of work by more than an order of magnitude and made possible rapidly descending costs and prices.
Only a little less rapid was the growth of the British iron industry, its rate of technical change, and its widening range of applications throughout the economy.
These exceptionally dynamic industries made an outstanding contribution to the growth of the economy as a whole based on water‐powered mechanization and a new transport infrastructure of canals, rivers, and roads.
Finally, British leadership in the Industrial Revolution must be attributed not only to these changes in technology and in the economy but also to the confluence and congruence of these changes with developments in the political and cultural subsystems particularly favourable to science, technology, and entrepreneurship.
Jane Humphries
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263471
- eISBN:
- 9780191734786
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263471.003.0003
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter examines the role of apprenticeship in the British Industrial Revolution. The apprenticeship system contributed in four ways. First, it provided training of necessary skills in the ...
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This chapter examines the role of apprenticeship in the British Industrial Revolution. The apprenticeship system contributed in four ways. First, it provided training of necessary skills in the expanding area of employment and newer sectors. Second, it promoted efficient training among masters and men. Third, it reduced the transaction costs involved in transferring resources from agriculture to non-agriculture and facilitated the expansion of sectors which promoted trade and commerce. Finally, apprenticeship saved poor children from social exclusion and enabled them to become more productive adults. The chapter also suggests that the apprenticeship system also created a structure of contract enforcement which ensured that both masters and trainees would derive the benefits from human capital accumulation.Less
This chapter examines the role of apprenticeship in the British Industrial Revolution. The apprenticeship system contributed in four ways. First, it provided training of necessary skills in the expanding area of employment and newer sectors. Second, it promoted efficient training among masters and men. Third, it reduced the transaction costs involved in transferring resources from agriculture to non-agriculture and facilitated the expansion of sectors which promoted trade and commerce. Finally, apprenticeship saved poor children from social exclusion and enabled them to become more productive adults. The chapter also suggests that the apprenticeship system also created a structure of contract enforcement which ensured that both masters and trainees would derive the benefits from human capital accumulation.
E. A. Wrigley
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263037
- eISBN:
- 9780191734007
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263037.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
This lecture discusses a quest for the Industrial Revolution. It determines that the key feature of this revolution consisted less in an acceleration in growth than in the absence of any ...
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This lecture discusses a quest for the Industrial Revolution. It determines that the key feature of this revolution consisted less in an acceleration in growth than in the absence of any deceleration. The lecture further considers certain implications that may be termed the crafts revision and the prominence of agriculture.Less
This lecture discusses a quest for the Industrial Revolution. It determines that the key feature of this revolution consisted less in an acceleration in growth than in the absence of any deceleration. The lecture further considers certain implications that may be termed the crafts revision and the prominence of agriculture.
Ira Katznelson
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780198279242
- eISBN:
- 9780191601910
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198279248.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
The previous chapter showed that neither David Harvey nor Manuel Castells in the early 1980s tackled the limitations of Marxist urban studies persuasively, each in his own way abandoning the project ...
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The previous chapter showed that neither David Harvey nor Manuel Castells in the early 1980s tackled the limitations of Marxist urban studies persuasively, each in his own way abandoning the project of Marxist social theory, whose central questions concern the joining together of structure and agency in a single hand. This chapter presents an analysis of the route taken by Friedrich Engels in his early work on cities in The Condition of the Working Class in England; in his compressed discussion of Manchester and other early industrial revolution urban centres, Engels blazed a road that has not been travelled either by Marxism or by students of the city, and identified mechanisms that connect structure and agency. The provocative union of Marxism and the city proposed by Engels had nothing to say about the history, character, and activities of national states. His contribution, rather, lies in the way he raised fundamental questions in three dimensions that correspond to each of Marx's theoretical projects: (1) questions about the linkages between large‐scale processes, principally the development of capitalism, and the emergence of the modern capitalist city; (2) questions about the linkages between the city as a point in the accumulation process and its internal forms; and (3) questions about the linkages between these forms and the development of class and group consciousness. These are the tasks entailed in joining Marxism and the city, and these are the questions explored in the remaining chapters of the book.Less
The previous chapter showed that neither David Harvey nor Manuel Castells in the early 1980s tackled the limitations of Marxist urban studies persuasively, each in his own way abandoning the project of Marxist social theory, whose central questions concern the joining together of structure and agency in a single hand. This chapter presents an analysis of the route taken by Friedrich Engels in his early work on cities in The Condition of the Working Class in England; in his compressed discussion of Manchester and other early industrial revolution urban centres, Engels blazed a road that has not been travelled either by Marxism or by students of the city, and identified mechanisms that connect structure and agency. The provocative union of Marxism and the city proposed by Engels had nothing to say about the history, character, and activities of national states. His contribution, rather, lies in the way he raised fundamental questions in three dimensions that correspond to each of Marx's theoretical projects: (1) questions about the linkages between large‐scale processes, principally the development of capitalism, and the emergence of the modern capitalist city; (2) questions about the linkages between the city as a point in the accumulation process and its internal forms; and (3) questions about the linkages between these forms and the development of class and group consciousness. These are the tasks entailed in joining Marxism and the city, and these are the questions explored in the remaining chapters of the book.
Malanima Paolo, Astrid Kander, and Paul Warde
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691143620
- eISBN:
- 9781400848881
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691143620.003.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This book explores the role that energy has played in the economic history of Europe, highlighting the link between energy consumption and economic development. Using three industrial revolutions as ...
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This book explores the role that energy has played in the economic history of Europe, highlighting the link between energy consumption and economic development. Using three industrial revolutions as the organizing principle, it shows that the path of the modern economy has not been a straightforward story of a constant rate of increase in the use of energy. Instead, the overall trajectory of energy use within Europe follows a logistic S-shaped curve. Three phases can be identified: the first phase, 1500–1800, was marked by little growth in overall energy consumption; the second phase, 1800–1970, is the Industrial Age, which saw explosive expansion in energy use, except during the World Wars and interwar period; the third period, 1970–2008, was marked by stabilization in energy consumption per capita. Based on these developments, the book considers the drivers of energy transitions as well as the economic efficiency of energy use.Less
This book explores the role that energy has played in the economic history of Europe, highlighting the link between energy consumption and economic development. Using three industrial revolutions as the organizing principle, it shows that the path of the modern economy has not been a straightforward story of a constant rate of increase in the use of energy. Instead, the overall trajectory of energy use within Europe follows a logistic S-shaped curve. Three phases can be identified: the first phase, 1500–1800, was marked by little growth in overall energy consumption; the second phase, 1800–1970, is the Industrial Age, which saw explosive expansion in energy use, except during the World Wars and interwar period; the third period, 1970–2008, was marked by stabilization in energy consumption per capita. Based on these developments, the book considers the drivers of energy transitions as well as the economic efficiency of energy use.
M. E. Turner, J. V. Beckett, and B. Afton
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198208044
- eISBN:
- 9780191716577
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208044.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter begins by reviewing the traditional historiography on mainly English but also touching more widely on British agricultural production, output, and productivity from the pre-industrial ...
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This chapter begins by reviewing the traditional historiography on mainly English but also touching more widely on British agricultural production, output, and productivity from the pre-industrial period c.1700, through the early, middle, and mature stages of the industrial revolution, to 1914. It reviews the contested ground over the chronological turning points of the agricultural revolution, turning points that have been determined by historians' estimates of agricultural output. Those estimates, both the contemporary ones by observers such as Charles Smith and Arthur Young, and the recent ones by modern scholars are tabulated, compared, and assessed. It is concluded that a new approach is required, an approach based on the product producers themselves, the farmers.Less
This chapter begins by reviewing the traditional historiography on mainly English but also touching more widely on British agricultural production, output, and productivity from the pre-industrial period c.1700, through the early, middle, and mature stages of the industrial revolution, to 1914. It reviews the contested ground over the chronological turning points of the agricultural revolution, turning points that have been determined by historians' estimates of agricultural output. Those estimates, both the contemporary ones by observers such as Charles Smith and Arthur Young, and the recent ones by modern scholars are tabulated, compared, and assessed. It is concluded that a new approach is required, an approach based on the product producers themselves, the farmers.
Hannah Barker
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199299713
- eISBN:
- 9780191714955
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199299713.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This book argues that businesswomen were central to urban society and to the operation and development of commerce in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It presents a rich and complicated ...
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This book argues that businesswomen were central to urban society and to the operation and development of commerce in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It presents a rich and complicated picture of lower-middling life and female enterprise in three northern English towns: Manchester, Leeds, and Sheffield. The stories told by a wide range of sources, including trade directories, newspaper advertisements, court records, correspondence, and diaries, demonstrate the very differing fortunes and levels of independence that individual businesswomen enjoyed. Yet, as a group, their involvement in the economic life of towns and, in particular, the manner in which they exploited and facilitated commercial development, forced a reassessment of the understanding of both gender relations and urban culture in late Georgian England. In contrast to the traditional historical consensus that the independent woman of business during this period - particularly those engaged in occupations deemed 'unfeminine' - was insignificant and no more than an oddity, businesswomen are presented not as footnotes to the main narrative, but as central characters in a story of unprecedented social and economic transformation.Less
This book argues that businesswomen were central to urban society and to the operation and development of commerce in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It presents a rich and complicated picture of lower-middling life and female enterprise in three northern English towns: Manchester, Leeds, and Sheffield. The stories told by a wide range of sources, including trade directories, newspaper advertisements, court records, correspondence, and diaries, demonstrate the very differing fortunes and levels of independence that individual businesswomen enjoyed. Yet, as a group, their involvement in the economic life of towns and, in particular, the manner in which they exploited and facilitated commercial development, forced a reassessment of the understanding of both gender relations and urban culture in late Georgian England. In contrast to the traditional historical consensus that the independent woman of business during this period - particularly those engaged in occupations deemed 'unfeminine' - was insignificant and no more than an oddity, businesswomen are presented not as footnotes to the main narrative, but as central characters in a story of unprecedented social and economic transformation.
Malanima Paolo, Astrid Kander, and Paul Warde
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691143620
- eISBN:
- 9781400848881
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691143620.003.0010
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter examines the role of energy in the economic growth of twentieth-century Europe. It considers the interrelationships of factors of production in order to identify the general features of ...
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This chapter examines the role of energy in the economic growth of twentieth-century Europe. It considers the interrelationships of factors of production in order to identify the general features of a shared experience of growth, rather than to illuminate the local differences. The chapter first explains how development blocks contributed to GDP growth before discussing seven long-run propositions, including the strong growth of capital stock and catch-up with the leader of capital–GDP ratios; machinery increased more than GDP, labor, and other capital; and falling and converging energy intensity in the twentieth century. The chapter concludes with an overview of the link between energy intensity and economic structure. It argues that it was the third industrial revolution that was behind most of the increasing economic efficiency of energy consumption after the 1970s.Less
This chapter examines the role of energy in the economic growth of twentieth-century Europe. It considers the interrelationships of factors of production in order to identify the general features of a shared experience of growth, rather than to illuminate the local differences. The chapter first explains how development blocks contributed to GDP growth before discussing seven long-run propositions, including the strong growth of capital stock and catch-up with the leader of capital–GDP ratios; machinery increased more than GDP, labor, and other capital; and falling and converging energy intensity in the twentieth century. The chapter concludes with an overview of the link between energy intensity and economic structure. It argues that it was the third industrial revolution that was behind most of the increasing economic efficiency of energy consumption after the 1970s.
SIDNEY POLLARD
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198206385
- eISBN:
- 9780191677106
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198206385.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, Economic History
The well-known term, the Industrial Revolution, is traditionally applied to the transformation of the British economy between 1760 and 1850. This chapter returns to the British Industrial Revolution ...
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The well-known term, the Industrial Revolution, is traditionally applied to the transformation of the British economy between 1760 and 1850. This chapter returns to the British Industrial Revolution and the contribution made to it by some of the ‘marginal’ areas of England, Scotland, and Wales, against a setting of other European ‘proto-industrial’ regions and their experience. Despite some conspicuous exceptions, the major share of the more advanced type of industrial and commercial activity of the eighteenth century described as ‘proto-industry’ was concentrated in the marginal areas of Europe. The argument of the whole of the study may be summarized by saying that, having been placed in that position, the marginal regions were exceptionally well equipped to push it forward vigorously, to lead the rest of Europe to a significant extent and for a considerable period of time.Less
The well-known term, the Industrial Revolution, is traditionally applied to the transformation of the British economy between 1760 and 1850. This chapter returns to the British Industrial Revolution and the contribution made to it by some of the ‘marginal’ areas of England, Scotland, and Wales, against a setting of other European ‘proto-industrial’ regions and their experience. Despite some conspicuous exceptions, the major share of the more advanced type of industrial and commercial activity of the eighteenth century described as ‘proto-industry’ was concentrated in the marginal areas of Europe. The argument of the whole of the study may be summarized by saying that, having been placed in that position, the marginal regions were exceptionally well equipped to push it forward vigorously, to lead the rest of Europe to a significant extent and for a considerable period of time.
John Wigger
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195387803
- eISBN:
- 9780199866410
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195387803.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Francis Asbury was born in August 1745 at Great Barr, about four miles outside of Birmingham, England, to Joseph and Elizabeth Asbury. Joseph was a gardener and Francis attended common school until ...
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Francis Asbury was born in August 1745 at Great Barr, about four miles outside of Birmingham, England, to Joseph and Elizabeth Asbury. Joseph was a gardener and Francis attended common school until about age thirteen. At fourteen he became an apprentice to a local metalworker as part of the Birmingham area’s booming metalworking industry, a key component in the early stages of the industrial revolution. Elizabeth Asbury sank into a deep depression following the death of Sarah Asbury, Francis’s only sibling, at age six in 1749. Elizabeth eventually found solace in Methodism and directed her son to Methodist meetings, where he experienced conversion and then sanctification by age sixteen.Less
Francis Asbury was born in August 1745 at Great Barr, about four miles outside of Birmingham, England, to Joseph and Elizabeth Asbury. Joseph was a gardener and Francis attended common school until about age thirteen. At fourteen he became an apprentice to a local metalworker as part of the Birmingham area’s booming metalworking industry, a key component in the early stages of the industrial revolution. Elizabeth Asbury sank into a deep depression following the death of Sarah Asbury, Francis’s only sibling, at age six in 1749. Elizabeth eventually found solace in Methodism and directed her son to Methodist meetings, where he experienced conversion and then sanctification by age sixteen.
Chris Freeman and Francisco Louçã
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199251056
- eISBN:
- 9780191596278
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199251053.003.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
Economic history has always been quite a peculiar department both in the domain of history and that of economics; dealing with change, institutions, collective rationality, and conflicting strategies ...
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Economic history has always been quite a peculiar department both in the domain of history and that of economics; dealing with change, institutions, collective rationality, and conflicting strategies of economic agents, privileging descriptive and non‐formal analytical tools, economic history remained for long outside the scope of formal neoclassical economics.This chapter describes and discusses the story of the incorporation of economic history into the mainstream of economic theory through the cliometric revolution, a powerful intellectual movement emerging by the late fifties, which encapsulated this reconstruction of economic history from the point of view of marginalist price theory and the postulates of individual rationality; Meyer and Conrad were the major drivers of this radical vision, and challenged the ‘old historians’ school’, today best represented by the response of David Landes.Yet the coherence of the cliometric movement was soon jeopardized by internal contradictions: Paul David issued the most powerful challenge to the seminal building block of the new approach, Fogel's ‘Time on the Cross’, a revision of the traditional approach to the economics of slavery in the pre‐Civil War USA.Douglass North is another example of a dissident from cliometrics, and Alfred Chandler provided alternative arguments for a reasoned history approach to societal change.The cliometric analysis of the British Industrial Revolution, using counterfactuals, namely by Crafts and Hawke, is discussed and contradicted in the chapter.Less
Economic history has always been quite a peculiar department both in the domain of history and that of economics; dealing with change, institutions, collective rationality, and conflicting strategies of economic agents, privileging descriptive and non‐formal analytical tools, economic history remained for long outside the scope of formal neoclassical economics.
This chapter describes and discusses the story of the incorporation of economic history into the mainstream of economic theory through the cliometric revolution, a powerful intellectual movement emerging by the late fifties, which encapsulated this reconstruction of economic history from the point of view of marginalist price theory and the postulates of individual rationality; Meyer and Conrad were the major drivers of this radical vision, and challenged the ‘old historians’ school’, today best represented by the response of David Landes.
Yet the coherence of the cliometric movement was soon jeopardized by internal contradictions: Paul David issued the most powerful challenge to the seminal building block of the new approach, Fogel's ‘Time on the Cross’, a revision of the traditional approach to the economics of slavery in the pre‐Civil War USA.
Douglass North is another example of a dissident from cliometrics, and Alfred Chandler provided alternative arguments for a reasoned history approach to societal change.
The cliometric analysis of the British Industrial Revolution, using counterfactuals, namely by Crafts and Hawke, is discussed and contradicted in the chapter.
Brian R. Cheffins
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199236978
- eISBN:
- 9780191717260
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199236978.003.0005
- Subject:
- Law, Company and Commercial Law
England experienced its first flurry of public offerings of company shares in the 1690s, followed by promotion ‘waves’ in 1720 (‘the South Sea Bubble’), the mid-1820s, the mid-1830s, and the ...
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England experienced its first flurry of public offerings of company shares in the 1690s, followed by promotion ‘waves’ in 1720 (‘the South Sea Bubble’), the mid-1820s, the mid-1830s, and the mid-1840s. Corporate enterprise thus generally grew in importance over time and by the mid-19th century large railway companies had emerged as pioneers of 20th century-style dispersed share ownership. Overall, however, progress was erratic, with periodic waves of enthusiasm for shares being followed by market reversals that swept away many of the new businesses. Moreover, despite Britain experiencing the world's first industrial revolution, few UK manufacturing enterprises had moved to the stock market before the late 19th century. Law was one deterrent but market dynamics were more important, in that industrial enterprises were risky investments and industrialists were disinclined to seek outside investment due to modest capital requirements and a strong sense of independence.Less
England experienced its first flurry of public offerings of company shares in the 1690s, followed by promotion ‘waves’ in 1720 (‘the South Sea Bubble’), the mid-1820s, the mid-1830s, and the mid-1840s. Corporate enterprise thus generally grew in importance over time and by the mid-19th century large railway companies had emerged as pioneers of 20th century-style dispersed share ownership. Overall, however, progress was erratic, with periodic waves of enthusiasm for shares being followed by market reversals that swept away many of the new businesses. Moreover, despite Britain experiencing the world's first industrial revolution, few UK manufacturing enterprises had moved to the stock market before the late 19th century. Law was one deterrent but market dynamics were more important, in that industrial enterprises were risky investments and industrialists were disinclined to seek outside investment due to modest capital requirements and a strong sense of independence.
Joel Mokyr
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195074772
- eISBN:
- 9780199854981
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195074772.003.0010
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter examines why Britain managed, for about a century, to generate and diffuse superior production techniques at a faster rate than the Continent, and to serve as a model that all European ...
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This chapter examines why Britain managed, for about a century, to generate and diffuse superior production techniques at a faster rate than the Continent, and to serve as a model that all European nations wished to emulate; and how and why it eventually lost its leadership and technology. It observes that technological success depended on both the presence of positive elements and on the absence of negative ones. The chapter notes that the generation of technological ideas and the ability to implement them are among the positive factors that provide technological successes. It further observes that one crucial difference between Britain and the Continent that helped Britain to establish its head start was its endowment of skilled labor at the onset of the Industrial Revolution.Less
This chapter examines why Britain managed, for about a century, to generate and diffuse superior production techniques at a faster rate than the Continent, and to serve as a model that all European nations wished to emulate; and how and why it eventually lost its leadership and technology. It observes that technological success depended on both the presence of positive elements and on the absence of negative ones. The chapter notes that the generation of technological ideas and the ability to implement them are among the positive factors that provide technological successes. It further observes that one crucial difference between Britain and the Continent that helped Britain to establish its head start was its endowment of skilled labor at the onset of the Industrial Revolution.
Roman Szporluk
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195051032
- eISBN:
- 9780199854417
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195051032.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
The “List Critique” is the most explicit work Karl Marx wrote on nationalism. This work actually remained unknown until it appeared in a Soviet historical journal in 1971, long after he died. ...
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The “List Critique” is the most explicit work Karl Marx wrote on nationalism. This work actually remained unknown until it appeared in a Soviet historical journal in 1971, long after he died. Conventional Marxian scholarship has tackled Marx's stand on nation and nationalism, however problems still remain despite its wide acceptance. In Marx's view, modern society consisted of two classes: the capitalists and the industrial workers. The theories and practices plus the Industrial Revolution all added to one process and that was the rise of capitalism. Meanwhile, the doctrine of the list was a contrast to everything that was taking place in society. The list called for the unification of all classes of a nation against other nations. Friedrich Meinecke pointed out the wave of nationalism while Marxism postulated the formation of the proletariat as a force that transcended national identities. Thus, Marxism viewed nationalism as the enemy.Less
The “List Critique” is the most explicit work Karl Marx wrote on nationalism. This work actually remained unknown until it appeared in a Soviet historical journal in 1971, long after he died. Conventional Marxian scholarship has tackled Marx's stand on nation and nationalism, however problems still remain despite its wide acceptance. In Marx's view, modern society consisted of two classes: the capitalists and the industrial workers. The theories and practices plus the Industrial Revolution all added to one process and that was the rise of capitalism. Meanwhile, the doctrine of the list was a contrast to everything that was taking place in society. The list called for the unification of all classes of a nation against other nations. Friedrich Meinecke pointed out the wave of nationalism while Marxism postulated the formation of the proletariat as a force that transcended national identities. Thus, Marxism viewed nationalism as the enemy.
