Losing the thread: a response to Robert Allen dagger: a response to Robert Allen

Humphries, Jane and Schneider, Benjamin (2020) Losing the thread: a response to Robert Allen dagger: a response to Robert Allen. Economic History Review, 73 (4). pp. 1137-1152. ISSN 0013-0117

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Abstract

In an earlier article we used archival and printed primary sources to construct the first long-run wage series for hand spinning in early modern Britain. This evidence challenged Robert Allen's claim that spinners were part of the ‘high wage economy’, which he sees as motivating invention, innovation, and mechanization in the spinning section of the textile industry. We respond to Allen's subsequent criticism of our argument, sources, and methods, and his presentation of alternative evidence. Allen contends that we have understated both the earnings and associated productivity of hand spinners by focusing on part-time and low-quality workers. His rejoinder rests on an ahistorical account of spinners’ work and similarly weak evidence on wages as did his initial claims. Our augmented version of the spinners’ wages dataset confirms our original findings. Spinners’ wages were low even compared with other women workers, and neither wages nor the piece rates that determined unit labour costs followed a trajectory that could explain the invention and spread of the spinning jenny.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14680289
Additional Information:	© 2019 Economic History Society
Divisions:	Economic History
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions
Date Deposited:	18 Nov 2019 12:39
Last Modified:	27 Mar 2024 06:06
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/102559

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