Spinning their wheels: a reply to Jane Humphries and Benjamin Schneider

Robert C. Allen

doi:10.1111/ehr.12850

Spinning their wheels: a reply to Jane Humphries and Benjamin Schneider

Robert C. Allen

Economics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Jane Humphries and Benjamin Schneider have assembled several large databases of spinners’ production and wages that they believe disprove my view that high wages led to mechanization in eighteenth-century England. This reply examines their data and shows that they have little value for understanding the incentives to mechanize. In addition, I present new evidence that substantiates my earlier estimates of productivity and earnings. The high wage hypothesis is unimpaired by the critique of Humphries and Schneider.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1128-1136
Number of pages	9
Journal	Economic History Review
Volume	73
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/ehr.12850
State	Published - Nov 1 2020

ASJC Scopus subject areas

History
Economics and Econometrics

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10.1111/ehr.12850

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Spinning their wheels: a reply to Jane Humphries and Benjamin Schneider

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