IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cup/jechis/v41y1981i02p341-360_04.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Factor Biases and Technical Change in Manufacturing: The American System, 1850–1919

Author

Listed:
  • Cain, Louis P.
  • Paterson, Donald G.

Abstract

This paper examines the proposition that U.S. manufacturing experienced biased technical change during the period 1850–1919. Tests for bias, in Hicksian terms, are conducted using the translog cost dual. Redefined census data permit these tests to be made at the two-digit level of industry classification and with four inputs considered—labor, capital, materials, and a residual factor input. The tests demonstrate that labor-saving and capital-using biases existed, but material-using biases also were present. Furthermore, the patterns of bias varied considerably from industry to industry and often were of such a magnitude as to overpower ordinary substitution effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Cain, Louis P. & Paterson, Donald G., 1981. "Factor Biases and Technical Change in Manufacturing: The American System, 1850–1919," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 41(2), pages 341-360, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:41:y:1981:i:02:p:341-360_04
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022050700043606/type/journal_article
    File Function: link to article abstract page
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Charles Calomiris, 1995. "The Costs of Rejecting Universal Banking: American Finance in the German Mirror, 1870-1914," NBER Chapters, in: Coordination and Information: Historical Perspectives on the Organization of Enterprise, pages 257-322, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Khaled, Mohammed S, 2017. "Estimating bias of technical progress with a small dataset," Working Paper Series 20153, Victoria University of Wellington, School of Economics and Finance.
    3. Kris Inwood & Ian Keay, 2005. "Bigger establishments in thicker markets: can we explain early productivity differentials between Canada and the United States?," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(4), pages 1327-1363, November.
    4. Scherer, Frederic Michael, 2010. "The Dynamics of Capitalism," Scholarly Articles 4454157, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
    5. Chulhee Lee, 2009. "Technological Changes and Employment of Older Manufacturing Workers in Early Twentieth Century America," NBER Working Papers 14746, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Ian Keay, 2003. "An Empty Promise: Average Cost Savings and Scale Economies among Canadian and American Manufacturers, 1910‐1988," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 70(2), pages 374-388, October.
    7. Braggion, Fabio & Moore, Lyndon, 2013. "The Economic Benefits of Political Connections in Late Victorian Britain," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 73(1), pages 142-176, March.
    8. Paul A. David, 2005. "Two Centuries of American Macroeconomic Growth From Exploitation of Resource Abundance to Knowledge-Driven Development," Macroeconomics 0502021, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:41:y:1981:i:02:p:341-360_04. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Kirk Stebbing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cambridge.org/jeh .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.