Productivity and Performance in the Paper Industry
Productivity and Performance in the Paper Industry
In a significant new contribution to economic history, Dr. Magee examines an important British industry that, like many others, declined in relative importance during the period prior to 1914. He compares Britain's performance in papermaking with its main international rivals of the time, America and Germany, addressing such central subjects as technological change, entrepreneurship and productivity. The book will be invaluable to scholars of economic history as well as those simply interested in papermaking.
- Sheds light on the processes of technological change and entrepreneurship in an important but little-studied industry
- Makes a comparative survey of British and American economic performances
- Discusses important issues for economists, such as tariffs, productivity, industrial relations and their effect on performance
Reviews & endorsements
"Gary Magee has written a thoughtful, rather abstract study of productivity in American and British papermaking during the second half of the nineteenth century." Leonard N. Rosenband, Isis
"This study is unambiguously located within a well-defined field of research, that of the relative decline of British manufacturing supremacy and, more particularly, the performance of late Victorian and Edwardian entrepreneurs. Its subject is well-chosen. ...cuts a fresh path through the hesitations of an old debate." Pierre Claude Reynard, Journal of Economic History
"Its real contribution is not so much the admittedly neglected case of papermakingg, but the attempt to integrate the perceived entrepreneurial failure into a credible economic analysis." Andrew Godley, EH.NET
"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
Product details
April 1997Hardback
9780521581974
310 pages
229 × 152 × 21 mm
0.63kg
1 b/w illus. 51 tables
Available
Table of Contents
- 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.
