The Constraints on Industrialisation: Some Lessons from the First Industrial Revolution

Jeffrey G. Williamson
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Jeffrey G. Williamson: Harvard University

Chapter 4 in The Balance between Industry and Agriculture in Economic Development, 1989, pp 85-105 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract It is easy to be misled by history. Development economists and economic historians have both spent a great of energy identifying the stylised facts and ‘patterns’ of development. Indeed, in uncritical moments we tend to gauge an economy’s performance by its ability to replicate or even exceed those stylised patterns. This is an ineffective use of history since it fails to exploit the information available. What we really want to know is how economies perform in response to technological events and changing world market conditions. What we really want to assess is the ability of an economy to reach its full potential, that is, to come close to optimal growth and industrialisation.

Keywords: Nineteenth Century; Real Wage; Computable General Equilibrium Model; Deadweight Loss; Earning Inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1989
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DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-19746-0_4

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