QUEEN’S BUSINESS SCHOOL ECONOMICS SEMINAR SERIES

Wednesday 29^th October

4pm

“Labour costs, wage bargaining, and technological change: Evidence for skilled work from early industrialising England, 1760-1840”

Judy Stephenson

UCL

Abstract

How technological change or progress affects labour’s share of production, wages, and labour relations is one of the great debates in economics and in economic history. This paper takes a microeconomic approach to an old macroeconomic story, which is usually told as either exploitation or labour induced innovation. I chart wage bargains and wage systems for skilled men through the records of key employers in the first century of the industrial revolution in England in three industries: textiles; shipbuilding; and ceramics. From my analysis I make three observations. Firstly, employers had a high level of wage setting power, and even greater enforcement power. Second, where employers faced scarcity of skill in key areas of growth they used security of contract rather than high wages to attract talent. Thirdly, employers responded to factor price problems and incentives with changes to their wage systems rather than (nominal or real) wage increments. Technological change brought on whole new systems for accounting for and paying labour costs, and these system changes created disruption.  I consider the implications for narratives of the industrial revolution, and for today’s businesses facing technological change.

QBS Conference Hub, Seminar Room 01.012