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Sooner than you think: the pre-1914 UK productivity slowdown was Victorian not Edwardian

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journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 20:05 authored by Nicholas Crafts, Terence C Mills
This paper re-examines UK productivity growth in the decades before World War I using a new dataset compiled by Thomas and Dimsdale (2017). We find that the productivity slowdown of the early 20th century was quite modest and does not deserve to be called a climacteric. A more serious slowdown in labour productivity growth occurred in the 1870s. Neither of these episodes should be regarded as a precedent for the current severe deterioration in UK productivity performance. Nor should a late-Victorian productivity slowdown be attributed to the end of the steam age despite the popularity of this belief.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

European Review of Economic History

ISSN

1361-4916

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Issue

4

Volume

24

Page range

736-748

Department affiliated with

  • Economics Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2020-01-07

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2022-03-20

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2020-01-07

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