American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Fighting for Growth: Labor Scarcity and Technological Progress during the British Industrial Revolution
American Economic Review
(pp. 3837–74)
Abstract
We establish a link between labor scarcity and the adoption of laborsaving technology in industrializing England. During the Napoleonic Wars, more than 10 percent of the male population served in the armed forces. Where recruitment was heavy, more machines economizing on labor were adopted. Naval recruitment, instrumented by warships' coastal access, provides exogenous variation in labor scarcity and suggests that the link between labor shortages and adoption is causal. Where mechanical skills were abundant, the impact of labor scarcity on adoption appears to be larger.Citation
Voth, Hans-Joachim ⓡ Bruno Caprettini ⓡ Alex Trew. 2026. "Fighting for Growth: Labor Scarcity and Technological Progress during the British Industrial Revolution." American Economic Review 116 (10): 3837–74. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20240393Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
- N13 Economic History: Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations: Europe: Pre-1913
- N43 Economic History: Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation: Europe: Pre-1913
- N63 Economic History: Manufacturing and Construction: Europe: Pre-1913
- N73 Economic History: Transport, Trade, Energy, Technology, and Other Services: Europe: Pre-1913
- O14 Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
- O31 Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives