IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/bushst/v48y2006i1p20-42.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Path dependence, fragmented property rights and the slow diffusion of high throughput technologies in inter-war British coal mining

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Scott

Abstract

This article examines the importance of path dependence effects in impeding the diffusion of high throughput mechanized mining systems in the British coal industry. It demonstrates that the industry had become 'locked in' to low throughput underground haulage technology, on account of institutional interrelatedness between Britain's traditional practice of extensive in-seam mining and its unique system of fragmented, privately owned mineral royalties. Fragmented royalties prevented the concentration of workings and introduction of high throughput main haulage systems that underpinned the rapid productivity growth of European producers. Meanwhile, technical interrelatedness between the haulage systems taking coal to the pit shaft and operations further 'upstream' created bottlenecks which both slowed the overall rate of mechanization and limited the productivity gains from the mechanization that did occur.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Scott, 2006. "Path dependence, fragmented property rights and the slow diffusion of high throughput technologies in inter-war British coal mining," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(1), pages 20-42.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:bushst:v:48:y:2006:i:1:p:20-42
    DOI: 10.1080/00076790500204693
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00076790500204693
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00076790500204693?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Supple, Barry, 1987. "Volume 4: 1914-1946: The Political Economy of Decline," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198282945.
    2. Veblen, Thorstein, 1915. "Imperial Germany and The Industrial Revolution," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number veblen1915.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Javier Silvestre & John E. Murray, 2023. "Determinants in the adoption of a non-labor-substitution technology: mechanical ventilation in West Virginia coal mines, 1898–1907," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 17(3), pages 467-500, September.
    2. Turnheim, Bruno & Geels, Frank W., 2012. "Regime destabilisation as the flipside of energy transitions: Lessons from the history of the British coal industry (1913–1997)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 35-49.
    3. Turnheim, Bruno & Geels, Frank W., 2013. "The destabilisation of existing regimes: Confronting a multi-dimensional framework with a case study of the British coal industry (1913–1967)," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(10), pages 1749-1767.
    4. Nicholas Kyriazis & Theodore Metaxas, 2011. "Path dependence, change and the emergence of the first joint-stock companies," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(3), pages 363-374.
    5. Libman, Alexander, 2008. "Democracy and growth: is the effect non-linear?," MPRA Paper 17795, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Tobias A. Jopp, 2015. "Did closures do any good? Labour productivity, mine dynamics, and rationalization in interwar Ruhr coal-mining," Working Papers 0085, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ziad Rotaba & Catherine Beaudry, 2012. "How Do High, Medium, And Low Tech Firms Innovate? A System Of Innovation (Si) Approach," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 9(05), pages 1-23.
    2. Jan Fagerberg & Martin Srholec, 2017. "Global Dynamics, Capabilities and the Crisis," Economic Complexity and Evolution, in: Andreas Pyka & Uwe Cantner (ed.), Foundations of Economic Change, pages 83-106, Springer.
    3. Bruce Truitt Elmslie, 1995. "Retrospective: The Convergence Debate between David Hume and Josiah Tucker," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 207-216, Fall.
    4. D. Patinkin, 1995. "The training of an economist," BNL Quarterly Review, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, vol. 48(195), pages 359-395.
    5. Jan Fagerberg & Maryann Feldman & Martin Srholec, 2011. "Technological Dynamics and Social Capability: Comparing U.S. States and European Nations," Working Papers on Innovation Studies 20111114, Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo.
    6. Jacques Fontanel, 2020. "Une croissance économique sans progrès humain," Post-Print hal-03709037, HAL.
    7. Anastassios D. Karayiannis & Allan E. Young, 2003. "Entrepreneurial Activities in a Veblenian Type Transition Economy," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 47(2), pages 40-51, October.
    8. Jan Fagerberg & Martin Srholec, 2005. "Catching up: What are the Critical Factors for success?," Working Papers on Innovation Studies 20050401, Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo.
    9. Mikko Valorinta & Henri Schildt & Juha-Antti Lamberg, 2011. "Path Dependence of Power Relations, Path-Breaking Change and Technological Adaptation," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(8), pages 765-790, November.
    10. Naoise McDonagh, 2021. "Credit Guidance for a Desired Economy: An Original Institutional Economics Critique of Financialization," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 53(4), pages 675-693, December.
    11. Stavroula DIMKOU & George MAKRIS, 2017. "Financial Sector And Growth Process In South-Eastern Europe'S Former Socialist Countries: Could A Kaldorian Cumulative Causation Approach Help To Better Understand The Links Between Them?," Scientific Bulletin - Economic Sciences, University of Pitesti, vol. 16(1), pages 60-73.
    12. Irina Tytell & Ksenia Yudaeva, 2005. "The Role of FDI in Eastern Europe and New Independent States: New Channels for the Spillover Effect," Working Papers w0060, Center for Economic and Financial Research (CEFIR).
    13. Fagerberg , Jan & Srholec , Martin, 2015. "Capabilities, Competitiveness, Nations," Papers in Innovation Studies 2015/2, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    14. Mohajan, Haradhan, 2019. "The First Industrial Revolution: Creation of a New Global Human Era," MPRA Paper 96644, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 17 Jul 2019.
    15. Justin Yifu Lin, 2007. "Development and Transition : Idea, Strategy, and Viability," Development Economics Working Papers 22709, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    16. Martins IYOBOYI & Abdrelrasaq NA-ALLAH, 2014. "Innovation and economic growth: evidence from Nigeria," EuroEconomica, Danubius University of Galati, issue 1(33), pages 43-54, May.
    17. Cohen, Stephen & Fields, Gary, 1998. "Social Capital and Capital Gains, or Virtual Bowling in Silicon Valley," UCAIS Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy, Working Paper Series qt200968vh, UCAIS Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy, UC Berkeley.
    18. Bichler, Shimshon & Nitzan, Jonathan, 2015. "The Scientist and the Church," EconStor Books, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, number 157975, December.
    19. Thomas Gries, 2006. "SEZ, Regional Development and Disparity," EcoMod2006 272100033, EcoMod.
    20. Jan Fagerberg & Martin Srholec, 2017. "Capabilities, economic development, sustainability," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 41(3), pages 905-926.

    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:taf:bushst:v:48:y:2006:i:1:p:20-42. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/FBSH20 .

    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.