During the Industrial Revolution technological progress and innovation became the main drivers of economic growth. But why was Britain the technological leader? We argue that one hitherto little recognized British advantage was the supply of highly skilled, mechanically able craftsmen who were...

In this paper we explore the response of the supply of human capital to changes in demand in the British Industrial Revolution. We use annual information from the Stamp Tax registers on apprentices in England between 1710-1803 and examine the response of tuitions to changes in the annual number...

Why is modern society capable of cumulative innovation? In A Culture of Growth: The Origins of the Modern Economy, Joel Mokyr persuasively argues that sustained technological progress stemmed from a change in cultural beliefs. The change occurred gradually during the seventeenth and eighteenth...