Transferring useful knowledge. Quality mechanisms in European apprenticeship

Prak, Maarten and Wallis, Patrick ORCID: 0000-0003-1434-515X (2023) Transferring useful knowledge. Quality mechanisms in European apprenticeship. In: Nigro, Giampiero, (ed.) L’economia della conoscenza: innovazione, produttività e crescita economica nei secoli XIII-XVIII. Firenze University Press, 177 - 192. ISBN 9791221500912

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Abstract

Human capital is central to current debates about the sources of growth and divergence in the premodern economy. Apprenticeship, the key formal arrangement by which occupational skills were transferred in this period, has in the past often been associated with guild monopolies and exclusion, implying a drag on the accumulation of human capital. Several stimulating recent contributions have pointed to apprenticeship as a potentially important explanation for English or European advances in manufacturing and technology in the run up to industrialisation. In this paper, we explore mechanisms that helped improve quality among artisans. We focus on one in particular: the selection of training masters by apprentices.

Item Type:	Book Section
Official URL:	https://books.fupress.com/catalogue/leconomia-dell...
Additional Information:	© 2023 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Economic History
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D901 Europe (General) H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
JEL classification:	J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Time Allocation, Work Behavior, and Employment Determination and Creation; Human Capital; Retirement > J24 - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O15 - Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
Date Deposited:	13 Dec 2023 15:36
Last Modified:	01 Apr 2024 08:07
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/121041

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