Slow real wage growth during the Industrial Revolution: productivity paradox or pro-rich growth?

Engels’ pause: technical change, capital accumulation, and inequality in the British industrial revolution

Nicholas Crafts

Oxford Economic Papers, 2022, vol. 74, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: I examine the implications of technological change for productivity, real wages and factor shares during the industrial revolution using recently available data. This shows that real GDP per worker grew faster than real consumption earnings but labour’s share of national income changed little as real product wages grew at a similar rate to labour productivity in the medium term. The period saw modest total factor productivity growth which limited the growth both of real wages and of labour productivity. Economists looking for an historical example of rapid labour-saving technological progress having a seriously adverse impact on labour’s share must look elsewhere.

JEL-codes: N13 O33 O47 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Slow Real Wage Growth during the Industrial Revolution: Productivity Paradox or Pro-Rich Growth? (2020)
Working Paper: Slow Real Wage Growth during the Industrial Revolution: Productivity Paradox or Pro-Rich Growth? (2020)
Working Paper: Slow Real Wage Growth during the Industrial Revolution: Productivity Paradox or Pro-Rich Growth? (2020)
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