Were British cotton entrepreneurs technologically backward? Firm-level evidence on the adoption of ring spinning

I study the slow adoption of ring spinning in Great Britain's cotton industry at the end of the 19th century, which has been used as evidence of British entrepreneurs' declining efficiency and conservatism (Musson, 1959; Aldcroft, 1964; Lazonick, 1981, 1981b). To this purpose I use firm-level data from all of Lancashire's cotton firms over several years. The data are from Worrall's The Cotton Spinners and Manufacturers' Directory for the years 1885, 1886–1887, 1890, 1894, 1902, and 1910.First, I show that the vertical organization of the industry, with its firms specializing in spinning or weaving, did not act as an impediment to the adoption of the ring spinning technology, as was argued by Lazonick. In particular, I show the following: i) non-integrated firms were the first to adopt rings in Great Britain; ii) the large majority of firms that adopted rings were incumbents; iii) vertically integrated firms that were spinning only either twist or weft yarn were still in existence in 1910; and iv) only a negligible number of firms changed their organizational structure upon adopting ring spinning. I also show that a large fraction of firms installed very small numbers of ring spindles upon the adoption of ring spinning, suggesting that firms were slowly adopting ring spindles to replace old mule spindles rather than transitioning over to ring spinning at a single point in time.Then, I show that the rate at which vertically integrated firms adopted rings suddenly accelerated after 1902. I interpret this as evidence that British entrepreneurs were fully aware of the technological complementarities between rings and automatic looms. These complementarities could only be fully exploited by vertically integrated firms.     

Outsourcing and Vertical Integration in a Competitive Industry

We develop a partial equilibrium, perfectly competitive framework of a (potentially) vertically integrated industry. There are three types of firms: upstream firms that use primary factors to produce an intermediate good; downstream firms that use primary factors and intermediate goods to produce a final good; and vertically integrated firms that do both. We establish conditions under which vertically integrated firms exist and outsource (part of) the production of the intermediate input. We study the changes in industry configurations resulting from changes in costs and demand.     

The economics of abundance: coal and cotton in Lancashire and the world

As a subterranean, highly elastic energy source, coal played a vital role in the cotton industry revolution. Coal was also vital to Lancashire's primacy in this revolution, because it was necessary both to the original accumulation of agglomeration economies before the steam age and to their reinforcement during the steam age. In no other part of the world was the cotton industry situated on a coalfield, and the response of other parts of the world cotton industry to Lancashire's agglomeration advantages was dispersal in search of cheap water and/or labour power. Lancashire coal helped to shape the global pattern of cotton production.     

Gresham on horseback: the monetary roots of Spanish American political fragmentation in the nineteenth century1

This article deals with the political economic consequences of the disappearance of the Spanish silver peso standard in Spanish America, the longest monetary union that ever existed. With the Napoleonic invasion of Spain in 1808, the fiscal and political structure of the empire imploded and most colonies became independent. Regional competition for revenues exacerbated budget shortfalls driven by military expenditure. Local elites established in former colonial Treasury districts started highly diverse monetary experiments to procure funds. Those in control of mint houses started minting their own coins or debased existing silver currency. Elsewhere, inconvertible paper currency was also created to meet budget deficits. As a result, the most valuable feature of the Spanish American silver peso, its quality standard, was broken and the standard that had organized the early modern international economy for more than 300 years ceased to exist altogether. In Spanish America, as diverse monies co‐existed within a formerly highly integrated economic space, a widespread Gresham's law effect exacerbated the conflict among local and regional elites. This fostered the political fragmentation of colonial Spanish America into an increasing number of political and monetary sovereign entities during the nineteenth century.     

棉花期货与新疆棉产业发展问题研究

以往传统的仅依靠现货市场运营的单一运作模式是新疆棉产业历年难以走出困境的主要症结所在。如何利用棉花期货助推新疆棉产业转变发展方式,实现优势资源转换,是新疆棉产业亟待解决的重大问题。本文阐释了棉花期货助推新疆棉产业发展的作用,分析了2号棉（新疆棉）合约缺失、新疆棉花指定交割仓库缺位等制约新疆棉产业有效利用棉花期货的因素,提出了新疆棉产业利用棉花期货转变发展方式的组织模式及对策建议。     

Did Muhammad Ali foster industrialization in early nineteenth‐century Egypt?

Muhammad Ali, who ruled Egypt between 1805 and 1849, intervened in Egyptian markets in an attempt to foster industrialization, especially between 1812 and 1840. Like a modern marketing board, the state purchased agricultural commodities (cotton and wheat) at low prices and sold them on world markets at much higher prices, a policy equivalent to an export tax. Ali also replaced tax farming with his own land taxes. The revenues so derived were used in part to finance manufacturing investment and to build irrigation canals. In addition, Ali supplied flax and cotton at those cheap purchase prices to domestic textile manufacturing, thus subsidizing the industry. He also used non‐tariff barriers to exclude foreign competition from domestic markets. Were Ali's state‐led policies successful in fostering industry? The answer is no easier to extract from this phase of Egyptian history than from that of other poor countries at that time. This is because Egypt faced the same terms of trade boom typical of most poor commodity exporters, which was causing de‐industrialization everywhere else in the poor periphery. Ali picked a very difficult time to pursue his agenda, but we show that his policies were successful.     

提供一体化物流服务 构建金融物流平台

物流企业为各类客户提供综合物流服务的同时,接受银行委托,对客户质押给银行处于仓储、保管、运输等物流状态的货物（商品）进行监管。本文提出的金融物流信息化平台对我国现代物流业的发展有较强的示范意义。     

Competition in the Pay-TV Market

This paper discusses competition in the emerging pay-TV market. Economic features of the industry are described, and the current state of the market in the UK is summarized. Two simple formal models of the industry are analyzed: First the danger of two vertically integrated pay-TV networks entering into collusive agreements to exchange programming with each other is discussed; second, the private and social incentives for signing exclusive contracts for premium programming are analyzed. J. Japan. Int. Econ., December 1999, 13(4), pp. 257–280. Nuffield College, Oxford OX1 1NF, United Kingdom. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: D43, L13, L41, L82.     

江苏集成电路产业发展现状及高质量发展策略研究

介绍中国集成电路产业发展概况、技术发展现状和趋势,分析江苏省集成电路产业发展的优势和劣势。研究提出：加强顶层设计,促进产业链更加合理布局;集聚科研机构,搭建多层次产业创新平台;加强政策引导,加快构建现代产业集群;加强知识产权保护,营造更优产业发展环境,推动江苏省集成电路产业高质量发展。     

河北旅游业创新发展对策探析

河北是中国著名的旅游资源大省,近些年来旅游业的纵比发展十分迅猛,但从横向比较而言,河北旅游业的发展仍不尽如人意,仍有很大潜力可挖。本文在对河北旅游业状况进行分析的基础上,重点提出了河北旅游业创新发展的对策。     

基于“订单农业+期货”模型发展新疆棉花产业分析

传统的小农户生产方式严重阻碍了新疆棉花产业的发展,而现代农业的快速发展与利用期货市场是分不开的。本文探讨涉棉企业通过订单农业,打破小农户的生产方式,将小农户与涉棉企业的利益联系起来,并通过涉棉企业利用期货市场交易的优势来发展新疆棉花产业。     

基于西部格局下的重庆发展现代物流产业条件研究

现代物流业作为正在兴起的2.5产业(生产性服务业)的典型代表,在我国经济社会尤其是制造业发展过程中,将会发挥越来越重要的作用。重庆作为一个地处西部内陆的老工业城市,重新研究和审视重庆发展现代物流业的基础条件成为当前亟待解决的问题。本文将从重庆发展现代物流业的优势、区位、综合交通网络、产业、布局、大通道战略等方面予以阐述。     

Wages,prices, and technology in early Catalan industrialization

Catalonia was the only Mediterranean region among the early followers of the British industrial revolution. The roots of this process can be traced back to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when the Catalan economy became integrated into international trade, and a successful printed calico industry concentrated in the city of Barcelona. Although the factory system was largely adopted by the cotton industry in the 1840s, the diffusion of the spinning jenny in Catalonia had occurred earlier, in the 1790s. In line with Allen, this article explores whether relative factor prices played a role in the widespread adoption of the spinning jenny in Catalonia. First, series of real wages in Barcelona are supplied for the period 1500–1808. Second, the prices of labour and capital are compared and the potential profitability of the adoption of the spinning jenny is analysed. Findings show that although Catalonia was not a high wage economy in the way that Britain was in the second half of the eighteenth century, evidence from the cotton spinning sector confirms the relevance of relative factor prices in the adoption of new technology. Within the booming cotton sector after the 1780s, high wages created strong incentives for the adoption of the labour‐saving spinning jenny.     

Production potential of the economy: Long-standing problems and ways to solve them

The paper contemplates problems that have stockpiled in the domestic economy. A conclusion is made that these problems have arisen because manufacturing was devoid of the part of natural rent obtained by the extractive industry and formerly distributed in favor of manufacturing. Now it is proposed to create vertically integrated interindustry corporations (VIICs) similar in structure to international transnational corporations (TNCs). They are necessary in our country because of its inclement climatic conditions and geographic location, as well as in view of its current economic strategy aimed at large-scale import substitution.     

Regulatory change and competition in the South African electricity supply industry

The electricity industry is a concentrated, regulated and largely publicly owned sector which is dominated by Eskom, a vertically integrated public utility. Recently, new structures and regulation have been proposed to separate the different levels of operation, from generation through to distribution, and to open up the potential for competition. This study undertakes a preliminary analysis of competition and regulation issues in electricity for South Africa. First, the structure of the electricity supply industry (ESI) is analysed, with a brief review of the differing characteristics of operations at each level and the implications for ownership and control within the sector. The performance of Eskom is then assessed against both financial and non-financial criteria. Next, the electrification progress and the regulatory framework are evaluated before differing options for the restructuring of the ESI, both in the long and the short term, are appraised.     

我国棉花产业短期竞争行为的治理分析

近期,由于受国际金融危机的影响,我国棉花产业陷入了十分困难的境地,企业的短期竞争行为频繁发生。本文运用博弈论相关知识,分析了企业短期竞争行为的发生机理,进而指出了与棉花直接相关的棉花种植、收购、加工企业所组成的棉花产业的短期竞争行为发生的主要原因,并提出相应治理对策,以减少棉花产业的短期竞争行为。     

新疆棉花产业可持续发展的困境——以家庭为单位的经济学研究

棉花种植业在新疆区域经济发展中居于重要地位。日益突出的棉花种植、采收中的污染问题,水资源短缺与病虫害问题,棉花生产成本的上升、棉花收购价格风险的存在,以及棉花种植中形成的路径依赖,使新疆棉花生产的可持续发展面临严峻挑战。本文通过对2002年以来农户家庭棉花种植成本与收益变动趋势的分析,提出应加大棉花生产补贴力度,保证国家棉花生产安全;以生态农业生产促进新疆棉花产业的可持续发展。     

新疆棉花产业链发展现状及对策建议

棉花产业各部门之间基于一定的技术经济关联构成了产业链。目前,新疆的棉花资源优势尚未转化为经济优势,棉花产业链各环节之间还存在一些问题。本文在对新疆棉花产业链各环节发展现状及问题进行分析的基础上,提出了相应的对策建议。     

新疆棉纺织业人力资源瓶颈制约及对策建议

资金、技术、运输、人才是制约新疆棉纺织业竞争力提升的四大瓶颈因素,其中,专业技术人才和熟练操作工的严重缺乏是最为突出的问题之一。本文针对新疆棉纺织业劳动生产率低、专业技术人员缺乏、研发能力弱等人力资源总量与配置方面存在的现实问题,从棉花深加工与高附加值战略需要人力资源支撑的基本观点出发,提出应高度重视并全面启动新疆本土棉纺织业专业人才培养计划和建立新疆棉花产业人才培养专项基金的政策建议。     

Specialization and Welfare in the Presence of Imperfectly Integrated Capital Markets and Learning-by-doing

We study a two-sector, two-period model with learning externalities in the modern sector and imperfectly integrated capital markets. We find that higher capital market integration lowers the requirements on the learning pattern necessary for free trade to lead to an equilibrium with maximal specialization in modern sector activities. We further find that the equilibrium with maximal specialization in modern sector activities Pareto dominates, if it exists, any other free trade equilibrium, and that autarky can Pareto dominate free trade if capital markets are poorly integrated, even when there is maximal specialization in modern sector activities under free trade.

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