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The Sources of British Economic Growth since the Industrial Revolution: Not the Same Old Story

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  • Crafts, Nicholas

    (University of Warwick)

Abstract

This paper updates the classic growth accounting research of the early 1980s taking account of improved data that has subsequently become available. The picture of long-run growth which results from incorporating many revisions is considerably different. The long-run path of productivity growth is now that of a roller-coaster with twin peaks in the third quarters of the 19th and 20th centuries rather than a U-shape. Productivity growth appears to have been very slow to accelerate in the Industrial Revolution, the notion of an Edwardian climacteric is not persuasive and the current productivity slowdown stands out as unprecedented.

Suggested Citation

  • Crafts, Nicholas, 2019. "The Sources of British Economic Growth since the Industrial Revolution: Not the Same Old Story," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 430, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    • Handle: RePEc:cge:wacage:430
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    22. Crafts, N F R & Leybourne, S J & Mills, Terence C, 1989. "The Climacteric in Late Victorian Britain and France: A Reappraisal of the Evidence," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 4(2), pages 103-117, April-Jun.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jagjit S. Chadha & Issam Samiri, 2022. "Macroeconomic Perspectives on Productivity," Working Papers 030, The Productivity Institute.
    2. Ravshonbek Otojanov & Roger Fouquet & Brigitte Granville, 2023. "Factor prices and induced technical change in the industrial revolution," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(2), pages 599-623, May.
    3. Leandro Prados de la Escosura & Tamás Vonyó & Ilya B. Voskoboynikov, 2021. "Accounting For Growth In History," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(3), pages 655-669, July.
    4. Kyoji Fukao & Tatsuji Makino & Tokihiko Settsu, 2021. "Human Capital And Economic Growth In Japan: 1885–2015," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(3), pages 710-740, July.
    5. Crafts, Nicholas, 2021. "What Can We Learn from the UK’s Post-1945 Economic Reforms?," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1370, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    6. Nicholas Crafts & Pieter Woltjer, 2021. "Growth Accounting In Economic History: Findings, Lessons And New Directions," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(3), pages 670-696, July.
    7. Nicholas Crafts, 2021. "What can we learn from the United Kingdom’s post‐1945 economic reforms?," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(3), pages 354-376, October.
    8. repec:cte:whrepe:33369 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Martin Fleming, 2021. "Productivity Growth and Capital Deepening in the Fourth Industrial Revolution," Working Papers 010, The Productivity Institute.
    10. Nicholas Crafts, 2021. "Understanding productivity growth in the industrial revolution," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 74(2), pages 309-338, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Climacteric; Golden Age; Growth Accounting; Industrial Revolution; Productivity Growth; Productivity Puzzle JEL Classification: N13; N14: O47: O52;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N13 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N14 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: 1913-
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • O52 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Europe

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