Data from the manuscript census of manufacturing are used to estimate the effects of the length of the working day on output and wages. We find that the elasticity of output with respect to daily hours worked was positive but less than one - implying diminishing returns to increases in working...

Using unpublished data contained in samples from the manuscripts of the 1870 and 1880 censuses of manufactures the earliest comprehensive estimates available this study examines the extent and correlates of part-year manufacturing during the late 19th century. While the typical manufacturing...

Between 1850 and 1880, capital per worker in United States manufacturing increased on average by at least 75 per cent, even after taking account of declining capital goods prices. During this same period, production shifted from small, labour-intensive artisan shops to large capital-intensive...

We know remarkably little about the length of the working day before the 1880s. In this paper, we summarize what is known about the trend in the length of the workday in American manufacturing industry from 1830 to 1890. We than develop estimates of the daily hours of work and form the basis for...

Establishment-level data are used to study capital deepening - increases in the capital-output ratio - in U.S. manufacturing from 1850 to 1880. In both nominal and real terms, the aggregate capital-output ratio rose substantially over the period. Capital deepening is shown to be especially...