Crafts, N. F. R. and Wolf, Nikolaus (2013) The location of the UK cotton textiles industry in 1838 : a quantitative analysis. Working Paper. Coventry, UK: Department of Economics, University of Warwick. CAGE Online Working Paper Series, Volume 2013 (Number 147).

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Abstract

We examine the geography of cotton textiles in Britain in 1838 to test claims about why the industry
came to be so heavily concentrated in Lancashire. Our analysis considers both first and second
nature aspects of geography including the availability of water power, humidity, coal prices, market
access and sunk costs. We show that some of these characteristics have substantial explanatory
power. Moreover, we exploit the change from water to steam power to show that the persistent
effect of first nature characteristics on industry location can be explained by a combination of sunk
costs and agglomeration effects.

Item Type:	Working or Discussion Paper (Working Paper)
Alternative Title:
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Economics
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Textile industry -- England -- Lancashire -- History -- 19th century, Cotton textile industry -- England -- Lancashire -- History -- 19th century, Great Britain -- Economic conditions -- 19th century, -- England -- Lancashire -- History -- 19th century -- Econometric models
Series Name:	CAGE Online Working Paper Series
Publisher:	Department of Economics, University of Warwick
Place of Publication:	Coventry, UK
Official Date:	August 2013
Dates:	Date Event August 2013 Published
Volume:	Volume 2013
Number:	Number 147
Number of Pages:	46
Institution:	University of Warwick
Status:	Not Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published

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