Preindustrial businesses: the time of the merchant -- The many paths to industrialization -- British and German … businesses during industrialization -- Big and small businesses in industrializing America -- Japanese and Chinese businesses … during industrialization -- American, British, and German businesses in the interwar period -- Japanese and Chinese …

We analyze factors explaining the very different patterns of industrialization across the 42 counties of England … between 1760 and 1830. Against the widespread view that high wages and cheap coal drove industrialization, we find that … industrialization was restricted to low wage areas, while energy availability (coal or water) had little impact Instead we find that …