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The Wheels of Change: Technology Adoption, Millwrights and the Persistence in Britain'S Industrialisation

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  • Joel Mokyr
  • Assaf Sarid
  • Karine van der Beek

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of the early adoption of technology on the evolution of human capital and industrialisation. We argue that mechanical skills and competence were a main determinant of the location of industry on the eve of the Industrial Revolution. It concentrates on the case of millwrights, eighteenth-century specialists in advanced carpentry and hydraulic machinery. Millwrights were a key part of the upper tail of the distribution of mechanical abilities. Their emergence was determined by the early adoption of watermills in the Middle Ages as recorded in the Domesday Book survey (1086). Their location displays considerable persistence.

Suggested Citation

  • Joel Mokyr & Assaf Sarid & Karine van der Beek, 2022. "The Wheels of Change: Technology Adoption, Millwrights and the Persistence in Britain'S Industrialisation," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(645), pages 1894-1926.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:econjl:v:132:y:2022:i:645:p:1894-1926.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/ej/ueab102
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    Cited by:

    1. Hans-Joachim Voth & Bruno Caprettini & Alex Trew, 2022. "Fighting for Growth: Labor scarcity and technological progress during the British industrial revolution," Working Papers 2022_15, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    2. Rota, Mauro & Spinesi, Luca, 2024. "Economic growth before the Industrial Revolution: Rural production and guilds in the European Little Divergence," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).

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