Crafts, N. F. R. and Wolf, Nikolaus (2014) The location of the UK cotton textiles industry in 1838 : a quantitative analysis. The Journal of Economic History , 74 (4). pp. 1103-1139. doi:10.1017/S0022050714000874

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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:	Journal Article
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions T Technology > TS Manufactures
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Economics
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Cotton manufacture -- Economic aspects -- Great Britain -- 19th century, Lancashire (England) -- Economic conditions -- 19th Century, Industrial clusters -- Great Britain -- 19th Century, Industrial location -- Great Britain -- 19th century
Journal or Publication Title:	The Journal of Economic History
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
ISSN:	0022-0507
Official Date:	December 2014
Dates:	Date Event December 2014 Published 27 November 2014 Available 15 February 2014 Accepted
Volume:	74
Number:	4
Page Range:	pp. 1103-1139
DOI:	10.1017/S0022050714000874
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access

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