Deskilling in Germany? An Inquiry into the German Industrial Revolution

Jean-Louis Combes (), Pascale Combes Motel (), Mridhula Mohan and Sebastian Vollmer
Additional contact information
Jean-Louis Combes: LEO - Laboratoire d'Économie d'Orleans [2022-...] - UO - Université d'Orléans - UT - Université de Tours - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne
Pascale Combes Motel: LEO - Laboratoire d'Économie d'Orleans [2022-...] - UO - Université d'Orléans - UT - Université de Tours - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne
Mridhula Mohan: University of Göttingen
Sebastian Vollmer: University of Göttingen

Working Papers from HAL

Abstract: It is generally considered that industrialization is accompanied by an increase in the skills of the workforce. However, this complementarity between human and material capital is controversial, particularly in the early phases of the industrial revolution. It is indeed possible that mechanization, by promoting the division of labor, led to a simplification of tasks and thus to a lower demand for skilled labor. This is the so-called de-skilling hypothesis. The aim of this article is to test this hypothesis using Prussian data from the first half of the 19th century. Industrialization is measured at the county level by the number of workers in the metallurgy sector in 1849. An identification strategy based on the county's proximity to coal mines reveals a negative causal impact of industrialization on schooling rates. This effect seemed to persist right up to the eve of German unification.

Keywords: button; waxproduct; glaze; hairspinnery; wadding; cement; gunpowder; germansilver; gold silver; paintshop; umbrella; cardboard; specialpaper; writing; starch; mangold sugar; sugarrefinery; cigar; glue; perfumery; fabricflower; pineseed; flax; gasandcoke; copper; metalfoundry; threadeye; metalletter; railwaycar; distillery; brandy; beer; playingcard; vinegar; soap; chocolate; leather; saw german; ironware; fixingpin; sewingneedle; rake; wireworks; ironworks; other; saw circular; saw dutch; steel; tan; fulling; oil; O15; Germany JEL Codes: N33; Industrial revolution; Deskilling; Deskilling Industrial revolution Germany JEL Codes: N33 O15 oil fulling tan saw german saw dutch saw circular other ironworks wireworks rake sewingneedle fixingpin ironware steel steelware copperhammer brass smeltery bronzeware engines glassworks grindery mirrorglass porcelain earthenware chemicals potboilery limekiln brickworks tarfurnace cerecloth paper wallpaper rubbergoods leather glue cigar sugarrefinery mangold sugar starch writing specialpaper cardboard umbrella paintshop gold silver germansilver gunpowder cement wadding hairspinnery glaze button railwaycar waxproduct chocolate soap vinegar playingcard beer brandy distillery perfumery metalletter threadeye metalfoundry copper gasandcoke flax pineseed fabricflower; mirrorglass; wallpaper; cerecloth paper; tarfurnace; brickworks; limekiln; potboilery; chemicals; earthenware; porcelain; rubbergoods; grindery; glassworks; engines; bronzeware; smeltery; brass; copperhammer; steelware (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-02-11
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05505741v1
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://hal.science/hal-05505741v1/document (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-05505741

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18611542

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().