Abstract
Pre-modern growth was to a large extent dependent on processes of commercialization and specialization, based on cheap transport. Seminal interpretations of the process of economic growth before the Industrial Revolution have pointed to the strategic importance of the rise of the Atlantic economy and the growth of cities linked to this, but have not really explained why Europeans were so efficient in organizing large international networks of shipping and trade. Most studies concerning early modern shipping have focused on changes in ship design (capital investments) in explaining long-term performance of European shipping in the pre-1800 period; in this paper we argue that this is only part of the explanation. Human capital – the quality of the labour force employed on ships – mattered as well. We firstly demonstrate that levels of human capital on board European ships were relatively high, and secondly that there were powerful links between the level of labour productivity in shipping and the quality of the workforce. This suggests strongly that shipping was a ‘high tech’ industry not only employing high quality capital goods, but also, as a complementary input, high quality labour, which was required to operate the increasingly complex ships and their equipment.
Highlights
Shipping was a key sector of the economies of Europe before 1800
Seminal interpretations of economic growth before the Industrial Revolution have pointed to the importance of the rise of the Atlantic economy and the resulting expansion of cities (Acemoglu et al, 2005; Allen, 2009; Wrigley, 1985)
Using the same source but constructing a new relational database, containing a variety of data concerning the crews and the ships to which they belonged for the beginning and end of the eighteenth century, in the present paper we are for the first time able to analyse the effect of human capital on labour productivity in the European maritime sector
Summary
Shipping was a key sector of the economies of Europe before 1800. In the pre-modern period, growth was largely dependent on processes of commercialization and specialization, based on cheap transport within and beyond national borders. The latter paper looked only at the human capital indicators of numeracy and literacy for seamen according to country of origin, and was limited to the end of the eighteenth century As such, it could not measure the development of skill levels in national fleets, nor did it allow for an analysis of the possible effect of the two indicators on productivity. Using the same source but constructing a new (and much larger) relational database, containing a variety of data concerning the crews and the ships to which they belonged for the beginning and end of the eighteenth century, in the present paper we are for the first time able to analyse the effect of human capital on labour productivity in the European maritime sector
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