Leonardo Ridolfi
DEPS, USiena
Carla Salvo
Sapienza University Roma
Jacob Weisdorf
Sapienza University Roma, CAGE, CEPR
Abstract
This study examines the two earliest national industrial censuses from mid-nineteenthcentury France and finds that the adoption of steam power was associated with both job creation and wage growth. To identify causal effects, we exploit plausibly exogenous variation in sectoral complementarity with steam technology and in local energy-cost incentives to substitute steam for water power. The results contrast prevailing views that early mechanisation displaced workers and suppressed pay
Keywords
Capitalists, industrialisation, inequality, labour, mechanisation, productivity, technological progress, wages.
Jel Codes
I15, J42, J31, L92, O14, O33
