Language standardization and the Industrial Revolution

Leonard Dudley

Oxford Economic Papers, 2017, vol. 69, issue 4, 1138-1161

Abstract: Why did the countries with the highest literacy rates fail to contribute to the innovations of the Industrial Revolution? Recent empirical research shows that people tend to mistrust those perceived to speak with an accent. Here the hypothesis of a link between language, trust and innovation is tested with a new data set comprising 201 urban regions and 117 important innovations between 1700 and 1850. In the three states that contributed almost all of these innovations (Britain, France and the USA), rising literacy was merely the first step toward the formation of large networks of people speaking standardized languages. These networks proved particularly important for advances requiring collaboration. Elsewhere, where language standardization was delayed, innovation also came later.

JEL-codes: N11 N13 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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