Rage Against the Machines: Labor-Saving Technology and Unrest in Industrializing England

Bruno Caprettini; Hans-Joachim Voth

doi:10.1257/aeri.20190385

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Rage Against the Machines: Labor-Saving Technology and Unrest in Industrializing England

Bruno Caprettini, Hans-Joachim Voth

American Economic Review: Insights 2(3), pp. 305-320 (2020)

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Abstract

Can new technology cause social instability and unrest? We examine the Captain Swing riots in 1830s England. Newly-collected data on threshing machine adoption shows that new technology was associated with both higher unemployment and more riots.

Keywords: technology, unrest, Captain Swing, Industrial Revolution, labor-saving
DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20190385
Canonical: https://www.jvoth.com/papers/rage-against-the-machines.html

Bruno Caprettini, Hans-Joachim Voth (2020). “Rage Against the Machines: Labor-Saving Technology and Unrest in Industrializing England.” American Economic Review: Insights.