HIST363: Global Perspectives on Industrialization

In this paper we have provided a reconstruction of the patterns of diffusion and adoption of steam engine technology during the eighteenth century. Furthermore we have also attempted to assess the influence of various explanatory factors on the diffusion process. Our findings indicate that the level of coal prices was indeed one of the major determinants of the distinctive patterns of adoption of Newcomen and Watt engines, giving further support to the previous studies of von Tunzelmann and Kanefsky. In a broader perspective, this link between coal prices and the intensity of steam power usage is also consistent with Allen who argues that the successful development of steam power technology in a global perspective can be seen as an outcome of Britain's price structure of relative high wages and cheap coal prices combined with a substantial endowment of engineering skills. Our results, shows that, although this view is broadly accurate, spatial variations in coal prices within Britain are also a part of the story.

However, it is also clear that, together with the level of coal prices, a number of other factors were also at work. In this respect it must be also acknowledged that Newcomen and Watt are rather "broad" categories. The specific design of the engine did not only determine its fuel efficiency, but also the quality of the power delivered (smoothness and regularity of motion, susceptibility to breakages, easiness of maintenance etc.). Not surprisingly, particular engine designs turned out to better suited for specific applications than others (in some cases, despite their level of fuel efficiency). This issue is discussed more in detail in Frenken and Nuvolari.

Our econometric analysis also indicates that, in the course of the eighteenth century, the regional patterns of usage of steam technology displayed considerable spatial diversity, reflecting the direct influence of locational determinants such as the price of coal and the production structure of the various counties, but, possibly, also of more complex and idiosyncratic factors impinging on the capabilities of the individual counties of absorbing the new technology of steam power (as revealed by the existence of "overdispersion" in the negative binomial estimations). In a more general perspective, this finding confirms the need of taking regional differences properly into account when examining the process of technical change during the British industrial revolution.