Historical industrialisation, path dependence and contemporary culture: the lasting imprint of economic heritage on local communities

Technology and the labour market

Robert Huggins, Michael Stuetzer, Martin Obschonka and Piers Thompson
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Michael Stützer

Journal of Economic Geography, 2021, vol. 21, issue 6, 841-867

Abstract: Culture matters for regional economic development and is one source of cognitive lock-in that influences path creation and dependency. However, little is known about the sources of regional variation in culture. This study explores the long-term imprinting effect of the Industrial Revolution on cultural practices across local communities in Great Britain. Historical data from 1891 on the employment in large-scale industries (e.g. textiles and steel) is used to estimate causal effects of industrialisation on five cultural dimensions. It is found that historical industrialisation is still reflected in contemporary local cultures marked by lower engagement with education and employment, less adherence to social rules but stronger collective action and social cohesion. It is concluded that one reason for the relatively poor effect of the public policies on local and regional economic development is that historical industrialisation has left a lasting legacy on contemporary culture in many places that impairs institutional efforts to foster change.

Keywords: Cultural evolution; community culture; industry structure; industrialisation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O1 O14 O43 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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