Productivity and Performance in the Paper Industry
Labour, Capital and Technology in Britain and America, 1860–1914

This significant 1997 contribution to modern economic history examines the important, but little studied, paper industry.

Gary Bryan Magee (Author)

9780521892179, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 4 April 2002

312 pages, 1 b/w illus. 51 tables
22.8 x 15.3 x 2.3 cm, 0.6 kg

"This is a welcome addition to books on the history of papermaking, particularly as it is a comparative study of the industries in Britain and America." Richard L. Hills, Technology and Culture

This pioneering 1997 study examines the economic development of the British paper industry between 1860 and 1914 - an era in which it is often claimed that the origins of Britain's relative economic decline are first witnessed. For paper-making, this was also a period in which an array of important new forces, including inter alia the development of new raw materials and the move to ever larger scales of production, came on the scene. Gary Bryan Magee looks at the effect of these changes and assesses how effectively the industry coped with the new pressures, drawing upon an extensive range of quantitative and archival sources from Britain, America, and other countries. Along the way, Dr Magee addresses issues central to the understanding of industrial competitiveness, such as technological change, entrepreneurship, productivity, trade policy, and industrial relations.

List of Tables
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
Introduction
1. Background
2. Technological change
3. Performance
4. Rags, esparto and wood: entrepreneurship and the choice of raw materials
5. The Anglo-American labour productivity gap
6. Unions and manning practices in Britain and America
7. Raw materials, women, and labour-saving machinery: the Anglo-American gap, 1860–90
8. Technological divergence: the Anglo-American gap, 1890–1913
9. Free trade and paper
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Economic history [KCZ]