New Evidence on the Stubborn English Mule and the Cotton Industry, 1878-1920
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3170937 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gary R Saxonhouse (University of Michigan), Gavin Wright (0000-0003-1936-1159, University of Michigan) |
| Year | 1984 |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 507 |
| Publication date | 1984-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Economic History Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0013-0117 • E-ISSN: 1468-0289 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2596556 |
| OpenAlex | W4244865712 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 30 |
| References cited | 8 |
W ~hy was the English cotton industry so much slower than the rest of the world to make the switch from mules to ring-frame spinning? This paper presents new evidence on this hardy historical question by drawing on the records of six textile machinery companies. These records are now available at the Lancashire Record Office in Preston. The new figures show that Lancashire's commitment to mule-spinning prior to World War I was indeed overwhelming, so much so that it calls into question attempts to explain the choice in terms of demand patterns and labour skills. The data also allow the direct testing of subsidiary hypotheses in a comparative international setting. Our evidence bears directly on the recent debate between William Lazonick and Lars Sandberg, which is one chapter in the broader controversy over entrepreneurial failure in the Victorian economy. In an influential article subtitled 'The Role of Economic Rationality', Sandberg argued that the industry was making a gradual but smooth transition to ring-spinning on lower-count yarns, but at British factor prices the mule was more profitable at yarn counts above 40. The persistence of the mule, therefore, was attributable to the pattern of demand for British cotton goods. In contrast, Lazonick found that the preference for mules was more thorough-going, chiefly because vertical specialization reduced the benefits of the ring to individual firms and prevented a modernizing transformation for the industry as a whole.1 Our data confirm and extend Lazonick's assertion that British firms continued to make massive new investments in mules for all yarn counts up to the eve of World War I. The international comparisons, however, raise doubts about
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| Unique citing works | 19 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,77 |
| Citation span | 1987 - 2026 (40) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 24 |