Factory discipline and externalities in the reduction of working time in the 19th century in France

This paper emphasises an underestimated hypothesis -health considerations- explaining the reduction of working time in the 19th century in France. The first part is devoted to the rising wage and the declining health. In the second part, we show that the deterioration of living conditions was a negative externality suffered by workers and arising out of inter-firm competition. In the last section, we highlight one of the necessary conditions for any reduction in this externality: the growing realisation among both employers and workers of the decisive role.