British Episodic Economic Growth 1850-1938

This paper argues that non-random measurement errors in the estimates of British Gross Domestic Product makes the compromise estimate a biased indicator of medium-term economic growth. Since the compromise estimate of GDP has been widely accepted and used to describe macroeconomic trends in the British economy this has resulted in descriptions of British economic growth that are best explained as statistical artifacts. This paper questions the existence of an à ¯à ¿à ½Edwardian Climactericà ¯à ¿à ½, argues for a rethinking of the myth of the à ¯à ¿à ½Great Depressionà ¯à ¿à ½ and offers new insights on inter-war economic growth

Electricity Diffusion and Trend Acceleration in Inter-War Manufacturing Productivity

This paper evaluates the link between the diffusion of electricity and the increase in labour productivity growth in the manufacturing sector during the inter-war period. A comparative analysis of the USA, Britain, Germany, and Japan shows that the trend acceleration in labour productivity is common to all these countries except Germany and is correlated with electricity diffusion. Germanyà  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à ¯à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à ¿à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à  à ½s labour productivity growth was nevertheless sustained in 1925 - 1938. The USA saw an earlier acceleration because the diffusion of electricity-based general-purpose technologies in production was much faster than in the other countries examined

Industry 4.0: SMEs Challenges and Opportunities in the Era of Digitalization. ZEI Discussion Paper C 252/2019

The fourth industrial revolution is changing our lives in a pervasive way. Industry 4.0 represents both an opportunity and a challenge for businesses, notably for small and medium-sized enterprises. Cyberthreats are continuing to increase, thus SMEs need efficient cybersecurity solutions to protect their data. Moreover, investments in new technologies must go hand in hand with the dissemination of digital skills. The EU countries have promoted targeted initiatives, but they have achieved different levels of digitalisation. This paper analyses the main challenges that businesses are now facing in keeping abreast of the latest technologies and examines the state of play of the digital transformation in Europe. It argues that the European Union can have a leading role in supporting businesses and citizens to embrace this revolution

Can general purpose technology theory explain economic growth? Electrical power as a case study

Does the concept of General Purpose Technologies help explain periods of faster and slower productivity advance in economies? The paper develops a new comparative data set on the usage of electricity in the manufacturing sectors of the USA, Britain, France, Germany and Japan and proceeds to evaluate the hypothesis of a productivity bonus as postulated by many existing GPT models. Using the case of the diffusion of electrical power in the early twentieth century this paper shows that there was no generalized productivity boost from electrical power diffusion as postulated by many existing GPT models. The productivity gains from this GPT varied widely across economies and industries, suggesting that the power of GPTs to predict aggregate or sectoral growth is limited.Research for this paper has been supported by a Research Grant from the ESRC (No. L138 25 1045).This is the author accepted manuscript. The published advanced access version can be found on the publisher's website at: http://ereh.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/06/03/ereh.heu008.full.pdf+htm

General Purpose Technologies and Economic Growth: Electricity Diffusion in the Manufacturing Sector Before WWII

This paper evaluates the diffusion of electricity within the context of a GPT perspective. The paper develops a new comparative data set on the usage of electricity in the manufacturing sectors of the US, Britain, France, Germany and Japan and proceeds to evaluate the hypotheses of a productivity slowdown and of a productivity bonus as postulated by many existing GPT models.Long Swing