689/2023 Leonardo Ridolfi, Carla Salvo, Jacob Weisdorf 

We use the two earliest industrial censuses from 19th-century France to investigate the impact on industrial labour of one of the largest waves of mechanisation in history, the diffusion of steam power. We establish using OLS and IV analyses that wages and employment both grew significantly more among steam-adopting industries compared to their non-adopting peers. Growth in total revenue was also significantly higher among steam adopters while labour’s share did not change significantly compared to nonadopters. These findings dispute the common view that the historical modernisation of industry set labour back in absolute terms or relative to capitalists.

Economic History