The spinning jenny and the guillotine: technology diffusion at the time of revolutions

Ugo M. Gragnolat (), Daniele Moschella () and Emanuele Pugliese ()
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Ugo M. Gragnolat: Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Piazza Martiri della libertá 33, 56127, Pisa, Italy
Emanuele Pugliese: Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Piazza Martiri della libertá 33, 56127, Pisa, Italy
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Ugo Maurizio Gragnolati ()

Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, 2014, vol. 8, issue 1, 5-26

Abstract: Scale economies and demand, combined with the relative prices of input factors, can provide an economic explanation to the location and timing of the Industrial Revolution. Its labor-saving innovations were profitable only above a minimum output threshold, which allowed to cover the upfront cost of capital. In turn, the possibility to exceed such threshold depended on consumer demand, which was affected by the level and by the distribution of real income. The case of the spinning jenny and the cotton industry in England and France serves as a valuable case study to show how scale and demand considerations might have mattered even at the eve of the Industrial Revolution, thus implying also a potentially important role for income distribution.

Keywords: Industrial Revolution; Income distribution; Scale economies; Choice of technique (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N00 N33 N73 O14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Working Paper: The spinning jenny and the guillotine: technology diffusion at the time of revolutions (2014)
Working Paper: The spinning jenny and the guillotine: technology diffusion at the time of revolutions (2014)
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