The productivity race : British manufacturing in international perspective 1850-1990 / S.N. Broadberry.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Broadberry, S. N., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Industrial productivity--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Industrial productivity.

Industrial productivity--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Industrial productivity--United States--History--19th century.

Industrial productivity--United States--History--20th century.

Industrial productivity--Germany--History--19th century.

Industrial productivity--Germany--History--20th century.

Competition, International--History.

Competition, International.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxv, 451 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book is a reassessment of British performance in manufacturing since 1850 in the light of new evidence on international comparisons of productivity. Using a novel analytical framework of technological evolution, Stephen Broadberry uncovers new ways of looking at Britain's relative economic decline while debunking a number of misapprehensions regarding the nature and causes of the decline. It analyses productivity levels in Britain, the United States and Germany and provides detailed case studies of all the major manufacturing industries, broken down into three periods: 1850-1914, 1914-50 and 1950-90. Broadberry offers a wide coverage of industries, with invaluable country-specific information. By combining a multitude of detailed productivity measurements with qualitative industrial and business history, he provides a major contribution to our understanding of British economic performance over the last 150 years.

Contents:

1. Introduction and overview

pt. 1. Measuring comparative productivity performance. 2. International comparisons of productivity in manufacturing: benchmark estimates by industry. 3. Labour productivity in aggregate manufacturing: Britain, the United States and Germany. 4. Extending the picture: manufacturing productivity in other industrialised countries. 5. Manufacturing and the whole economy

pt. 2. Explaining comparative productivity performance. 6. Technology. 7. Economic geography: markets and natural resources. 8. Accumulation of physical and human capital. 9. Competition and adjustment

pt. 3. Reassessing the performance of British industry. 10. The rise of competition from abroad, 1850-1914.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references (p. 400-431) and index.

ISBN:

0-511-58477-6

0-511-00018-9