Rage against the Machines: Labor-Saving Technology and Unrest in Industrializing England
American Economic Review: Insights
vol. 2,
no. 3, September 2020
(pp. 305-20)
(Complimentary)
Abstract
Can new technology cause social instability and unrest? We examine the famous "Captain Swing" riots in 1830s England. Newly collected data on threshing machine diffusion shows that labor-saving technology was associated with more riots. We instrument technology adoption with the share of heavy soils in a parish: IV estimates demonstrate that threshing machines were an important cause of unrest. Where alternative employment opportunities softened the blow of new technology, there was less rioting. Conversely, where enclosures had impoverished workers, the effect of threshing machines on rioting was amplified.Citation
Caprettini, Bruno, and Hans-Joachim Voth. 2020. "Rage against the Machines: Labor-Saving Technology and Unrest in Industrializing England." American Economic Review: Insights, 2 (3): 305-20. DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20190385Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
- L16 Industrial Organization and Macroeconomics: Industrial Structure and Structural Change; Industrial Price Indices
- N13 Economic History: Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations: Europe: Pre-1913
- N33 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: Europe: Pre-1913
- N53 Economic History: Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment, and Extractive Industries: Europe: Pre-1913
- O33 Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
- Q16 Agricultural R&D; Agricultural Technology; Biofuels; Agricultural Extension Services