Paper #495

Title:

Factor prices and productivity growth during the British Industrial Revolution

Authors:

Pol Antràs and Hans Joachim Voth

Date:

October 2000

Abstract:

This paper presents new estimates of total factor productivity growth in Britain for the period 1770�1860. We use the dual technique and argue that the estimates we derive from factor prices are of similar quality to quantity-based calculations. Our results provide further evidence, calculated on the basis of an independent set of sources, that productivity growth during the British Industrial Revolution was relatively slow. The Crafts�Harley view of the Industrial Revolution is thus reinforced. Our preferred estimates suggest a modest acceleration after 1800.

Keywords:

British industrial revolution, productivity growth, dual measurement of productivity

JEL codes:

N13, O47, O52

Area of Research:

Economic and Business History

Published in:

Explorations in Economic History, January 2003, 40 (1), pp. 52-77

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