Machine-reeling technology diffusion in early Meiji Japan's silk industry |
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Authors: | Shota Moriwaki |
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Institution: | Graduate School of Economics, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka-shi, Japan |
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Abstract: | Using 1880 s panel data from Yamanashi and Gifu prefectures in Japan, we estimated the diffusion factors and total factor productivity (TFP) in machine-reeling technology in Japan's silk-reeling sector. While the cost of distance through the traditional highway from the Shimosuwa-shuk post town in the Nagano Prefecture has a negative correlation with technology diffusion, the correlation of silk production per population is positive. Machine-reeling technology is raw-material-intensive and does not show increasing returns to scale. While the TFP in Yamanashi is higher than in Gifu, machine-reeling output expansion is larger in the latter. |
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Keywords: | machine-reeling technology nineteenth century Japan technology diffusion total factor productivity |
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