"Automation" of Manufacturing in the Late Nineteenth Century: The Hand and Machine Labor Study

Jeremy Atack, Robert Margo and Paul Rhode

Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2019, vol. 33, issue 2, 51-70

Abstract: Recent advances in artificial intelligence and robotics have generated a robust debate about the future of work. An analogous debate occurred in the late nineteenth century when mechanization first transformed manufacturing. We analyze an extraordinary dataset from the late nineteenth century, the Hand and Machine Labor study carried out by the US Department of Labor in the mid-1890s. We focus on transitions at the task level from hand to machine production, and on the impact of inanimate power, especially of steam power, on labor productivity. Our analysis sheds light on the ability of modern task-based models to account for the effects of historical mechanization.

JEL-codes: D24 J23 J24 L23 M11 N31 N61 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
Note: DOI: 10.1257/jep.33.2.51
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (32)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/jep.33.2.51 (application/pdf)
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles/attachments?retrie ... flDM9xk8l_Lahwt1Jo55 (application/zip)
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles/attachments?retrie ... H0_GPpB6m5y7iMuShsH8 (application/pdf)
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles/attachments?retrie ... PBWGL9wsxpde5G9g7Akx (application/zip)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aea:jecper:v:33:y:2019:i:2:p:51-70

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.aeaweb.org/journals/subscriptions

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Economic Perspectives is currently edited by Enrico Moretti

More articles in Journal of Economic Perspectives from American Economic Association Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Michael P. Albert ().