Productivity Growth and Technological Change in Great Britain and the United States during the Early Twentieth Century

ABSTRACT: A recent study in American economic history has shown that the 1930s, though scarred by relentless unemployment, mass migration and profound social and cultural change, were far from gloomy in terms of technological and business innovation. In light of these dynamic productivity developments and rapid rates of total factor productivity growth, this study reassesses the British technological and organizational innovations during the interwar era and provides a novel explanation for the rapid divergence of the Anglo-American labor-productivity levels over the course of the early twentieth century. Overall, the advances in products and materials, improvements in plant layout, management and human capital, and the emergence of new production techniques placed both the American and the British economy in a position to embark on a new pattern of growth and development.

AUTHOR: Pieter Woltjer

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Comparative GDP per capita, US and UK (UK=100, 1870–1930)
Comparative labor productivity in manufacturing, US and UK (UK=100, 1890–1990)
Illustration of data envelopment
Illustration of growth decomposition
Distribution of capital intensity, US and GB
Educational attainment of the workforce (1900–1950)
Labor quality, new estimates (1890–1960)

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Available at: Groningen Growth and Development Centre
Journal: GGDC Monograph Series, No. 16, 2013
ISBN: 9789036763202
Get PDF: The Roaring Thirties

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MLA Woltjer, Pieter. The roaring thirties: productivity growth and technological change in Great Britain and the United States during the early Twentieth Century. Diss. PhD dissertation, University of Groningen, Groningen, 2013.
APA Woltjer, P. J. (2013). The roaring thirties: productivity growth and technological change in Great Britain and the United States during the early Twentieth Century (Doctoral dissertation, PhD dissertation, University of Groningen, Groningen).
Chicago Woltjer, Pieter. “The roaring thirties: productivity growth and technological change in Great Britain and the United States during the early Twentieth Century.” PhD diss., PhD dissertation, University of Groningen, Groningen, 2013.
Harvard Woltjer, P.J., 2013. The roaring thirties: productivity growth and technological change in Great Britain and the United States during the early Twentieth Century (Doctoral dissertation, PhD dissertation, University of Groningen, Groningen).
Vancouver Woltjer PJ. The roaring thirties: productivity growth and technological change in Great Britain and the United States during the early Twentieth Century (Doctoral dissertation, PhD dissertation, University of Groningen, Groningen).

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