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Summary EH101 MT 2 Readings
- Module
- EH101 (EH101)
- Institution
- London School Of Economics (LSE)
Readings for EH101 MT2
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MT2 Readings NotesPrecocious Albion: A New Interpretation of the British Industrial Revolution
Author(s): Morgan Kelly, Joel Mokyr and Cormac Ó Gráda
Abstract (pg 363)
Human capital and British labour force important.
“in terms of both physical quality and mechanical skills, British workers around 1750 were at a much higher
level than their continental counterparts. As a result, new inventions - no matter where they originated - were
adopted earlier, faster, and on a larger scale in Britain than elsewhere.”
“The causes for the higher labor quality are explored and found to be associated with a higher level of nutrition
and better institutions, especially England's Poor Law and the superior functioning of its apprenticeship system.”
Introduction (pg 364)
Britain used to justify its growth using its human capital, but was dismissed due to poor literacy rates.
They argue that this not correct, nutrition made males strong and hence work more efficiently. More
skilled workers throughout Britain, these include mechanics and engineers, so more mechanisations
can occur.
“We argue that better nutrition made British males grow up on average to be healthier and taller than their
continent counterparts. Better health and increased height meant both more physical strength and, in likelihood,
higher cognitive ability, and hence higher labor productivity”.
“At the distribution of productive ability and dexterity in Britain was more than elsewhere… a relatively
contingent of highly skilled and capable technical workers. That contingent may have contained a higher
endowment of skills, through a more flexible and effective system of training young men in the apprenticeship
system… its highly skilled mechanics and engineers, who may not have been a large proportion of the labor
force”.
Main reason for industrial revolution was its early development of human capital which made it so
prominent in the economy. High human capital came about from British institutions.
“The net result is that on the eve of the Industrial Revolution, although Britain may have had more accessible
coal and a larger overseas empire, the main reason for its precocity higher level of human capital… part of the
comparatively high level of human capital was indeed rooted in Britain’s institutions..”
Conclusion (384)
High wages define high quality of British Labour. Britons may not have been as inventive compared to
other countries in terms of technology, but they could easily comprehend new techniques and were
good at tinkering.
“argue that the observation that it was a high-wage nation, although correct, has been misidentified as a causal
factor. Instead, high wages reflected the high quality of British labor. This quality took two dimensions: a
physical- cognitive dimension and a human capital dimension. The result of the higher quality of its labor force
was reflected in higher wages. But the higher quality of workers… meant that, although Britons may not have
been all that much more inventive than their continental competitors, it was much easier for their engineers,
technicians and skilled workers to adopt the new techniques and install, operate, and maintain the equipment in
which it was embodied.”
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