Structural Change and Economic Growth in the British Economy before the Industrial Revolution, 1500–1800

Abstract

Structural transformation is a key indicator of economic development. We present the first time series of male labour sectoral shares for England and Wales before 1800, using a large sample of probate and apprenticeship data to produce national and county-level estimates. England experienced a rapid decline in the share of workers in agriculture between the early seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth centuries, associated with rising agricultural and especially industrial productivity; Wales saw few changes. Our results show that England experienced unusually early structural change and highlight the mid-seventeenth century as a turning point.

Money and modernization in early modern England

“…The industrial and service sectors already accounted for 40 per cent of the labor force in 1381, and by 1759 agriculture's share of the labor force had shrunk to 37 per cent and industry's grown to 34 per cent (Broadberry et al 2013). Wallis et al (2018) show that by the early eighteenth century, only around 45 per cent of the male labor force was in agriculture. Structural transformation became particularly rapid in the decades surrounding the mid seventeenth century (Wallis et al 2018, p. 29), which also witnessed the beginnings of sustained economic growth (Broadberry et al .…”

“… 18 From Broadberry et al (2013), we do not know exactly when structural change started, only that it must have been between the 1520s and 1700. From Wallis et al (2018), however, we know that the 1630s is a plausible decade.…”

The Political-Economic Foundations of Representative Government

“…England's transition to agrarian capitalism began much earlier than that of any other country (Dimmock 2014, 205-32;van Zanden 2000, 84-85;Wallis, Colson, and Chilosi 2018). During that transition, English landowners consisted of two ideal-types: those whose relationship with their tenants was based on traditional forms of land tenure and manorial custom, and those who leased their land to yeoman farmers at market rates under the jurisdiction of common law (Brown 2015, 169-71).…”

The Farmer, the Blue-Collar, and the Monk: Understanding Economic Development Through Saturations of Demands and Non-Homothetic Productivity Gains

“…In other words, less than one third of the population worked in manufacturing and services. From this initial situation, one observes a constant decline in the share of the labor force in the agriculture: 68% in 1600, 63% in 1700 and 60% in 1800 for the case of France (Allen, 2001); these changes started earlier in England (Wallis et al, 2017). In 1800, at the eve of the economic take-off, 22% of the population worked in manufacturing and 14% in services.…”