Electricity, societal change and labour market transformation
This project analyses how local labour markets adapt to technological change. We look specifically into the transformative early 20th century, when electricity diffused widely into society as a general purpose technology. The effects on growth, skill-demand and urbanisation has been documented by historians, but mostly on the aggregate level. This project goes beyond macro-aggregates by exploiting linked census data to follow the mobility and career patterns of individuals in localities affected by technological change.
We look for variation in technological change along new electricity gridlines, where adoption of man-replacing machinery was encouraged by cheaper access to a more reliable energy form for motive power. The project will shed light on how individuals adjust to technical change (by gaining new skills, or moving to a new location) and how pioneering and laggard regions have responded to mobility of individuals.