Showing papers by "Jane Humphries published in 1994"

An input-output table for 1841

Abstract: S tudies of industrialization inevitably involve some investigation of economic structure: structural changes comprise a defining characteristic of 'the industrial revolution' according to standard descriptions2 and the construction of output index numbers to ascertain growth rates requires knowledge of the distribution of value added.3 Surprisingly, these concerns have not spilled over into a direct interest in the interrelationships among industries during industrialization, studies of which would shed light on the mechanism of economic growth. Input-output analysis provides an obvious framework within which to investigate these interrelationships but the stumbling block is clearly the assembly of the necessary historical statistics. This article tries to overcome this obstacle and use input-output analysis to investigate the structure of an economy undergoing industrialization. Specifically we present an input-output table for the UK economy for i84I. So far as we know, this represents the first attempt to summarize the structure of the UK economy in this way for a date earlier than I907, for which year we have Thomas's study.4 We cannot expect the result to have the precision of Thomas's work, let alone that of the five-yearly inputoutput tables now published by the Central Statistical Office. But, compared with a retrospective look at a more recent year, our task is simplified by the rudimentary structure of the economy in i84I. The next section gives a brief description of our sources and the methods that we used to reconstruct the inter-industry transactions. The production analysis is then used to cast the table of input-output accounts. Capital and labour inputs by industry are also identified. We then use the table to identify the interdependence and linkages between industries and to assess the total productivity of each industry. I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~