Social Sciences History Seminar

Abstract: We study labor market conflict as a factor driving technical change. The legalization of unions delivered an exogenous shock to the cost of conflict in the Industrial Revolution. The textiles industry was uniquely exposed: before unions were legalized in England in 1824, collective action was concentrated in textiles, which was the only factory-based industry. After unions were legalized, patenting for textiles inventions increased by over 100%, including for high quality patents. The direction and bias of technical change within textiles shifted towards unskilled, non-union labor, notably female and child labor. Strikes in textiles began to drive increases in textiles patenting.