Social Sciences History Seminar

Abstract: This presentation is an overview of a monograph in progress of the same title by the presenter and co-authors (Jeremy Atack, Vanderbilt University and NBER; and Paul Rhode, University of Michigan and NBER).  The analysis is based on the digitization of an extraordinary late nineteenth century source, the US Department of Labor's Hand and Machine Labor Study (1899), which provides task-level data on the production of specific manufactured goods by artisan ("hand labor") and factory ("machine labor") methods.  Results (chs. 4-5) on the causal impact of "mechanization" (use of inanimate power) on labor productivity (time to complete a task) and on "de-skilling" (displacement of artisans by less-skilled workers); and on the shift from hand tools to special-purpose machinery (ch. 6) are discussed.