Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of contributors
- Preface
- 1 Catch-up, convergence and the sources of post-war European growth: introduction and overview
- 2 Macroeconomic accounts for European countries
- 3 Sectoral growth accounting and structural change in post-war Europe
- 4 Measures of fixed capital stocks in the post-war period: a five-country study
- 5 Technology indicators and economic growth in the European area: some empirical evidence
- 6 Human capital and productivity in manufacturing during the twentieth century: Britain, Germany and the United States
- 7 Convergence and divergence in the European periphery: productivity in Eastern and Southern Europe in retrospect
- 8 Convergence: what the historical record shows
- 9 Growth and convergence in OECD countries: a closer look
- 10 On the historical continuity of the process of economic growth
- 11 Europe's Golden Age: an econometric investigation of changing trend rates of growth
- Index
6 - Human capital and productivity in manufacturing during the twentieth century: Britain, Germany and the United States
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of contributors
- Preface
- 1 Catch-up, convergence and the sources of post-war European growth: introduction and overview
- 2 Macroeconomic accounts for European countries
- 3 Sectoral growth accounting and structural change in post-war Europe
- 4 Measures of fixed capital stocks in the post-war period: a five-country study
- 5 Technology indicators and economic growth in the European area: some empirical evidence
- 6 Human capital and productivity in manufacturing during the twentieth century: Britain, Germany and the United States
- 7 Convergence and divergence in the European periphery: productivity in Eastern and Southern Europe in retrospect
- 8 Convergence: what the historical record shows
- 9 Growth and convergence in OECD countries: a closer look
- 10 On the historical continuity of the process of economic growth
- 11 Europe's Golden Age: an econometric investigation of changing trend rates of growth
- Index
Summary
Introduction
Human capital is widely seen by economists as a key determinant of growth and productivity performance (Lucas, 1988; Romer, 1990). And yet surprisingly little is known about the quantitative dimensions of human capital accumulation before very recent times, beyond years of formal schooling, an indicator which suggests only minor differences between the major industrialized countries (Maddison, 1987, table A12). In this paper we present data on key aspects of human capital accumulation in the manufacturing sectors of Britain, Germany and the USA, and relate them to comparative productivity performance. We find that developments in human capital accumulation in the major industrialized countries can only be understood in relation to overall production strategies.
We emphasize competition between technological systems geared to mass production and craft/flexible production, with very different human capital requirements. We see the evolution of a mass production system in the USA in the early twentieth century, building on the American system of manufactures from the nineteenth century (Hounshell, 1984). In mass production, special-purpose machinery and resources were substituted for skilled shopfloor labour to produce standardized products. This involved heavy investment in fixed capital and the managerial aspects of human capital, but on the shopfloor involved the use of relatively unskilled labour. Over time, the investment in human capital above shopfloor level was strengthened by heavy investment in research and development. Furthermore, American R&D evolved in a ‘missionoriented’ direction, concentrating on the emergence phase of new technologies (Ergas, 1987).
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- Information
- Quantitative Aspects of Post-War European Economic Growth , pp. 244 - 270Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1997
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