Digitizing Carroll D. Wright’s “Hand and Machine Labor” Study
We describe our digitization of a uniquely detailed study of 19th century production methods assembled by the United States Department of Labor (1899). The staff spent five years collecting and assembling data on the production of hundreds of highly specific products (as well as some services) at th...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | deu |
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De Gruyter
2023-05-01
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Series: | Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/jbwg-2023-0002 |
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author | Atack Jeremy A. Margo Robert W. Rhode Paul |
author_facet | Atack Jeremy A. Margo Robert W. Rhode Paul |
author_sort | Atack Jeremy |
collection | DOAJ |
description | We describe our digitization of a uniquely detailed study of 19th century production methods assembled by the United States Department of Labor (1899). The staff spent five years collecting and assembling data on the production of hundreds of highly specific products (as well as some services) at the production operations level using traditional artisanal (“hand”) methods and by the (then) most modern “machine” methods, measuring productivity in terms of the time taken to complete a specific task or set of tasks. The data proved too complex and voluminous to use, except as a source of anecdotes, until now. We describe how we have made these invaluable data from the first industrial revolution tractable to modern analysis and how they might be used to provide insight and perspective into the effects of robotics and artificial intelligence on labor during the third industrial revolution. |
first_indexed | 2024-04-24T19:46:34Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-aac8fed0410444b085ead44cdbd3df38 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 0075-2800 2196-6842 |
language | deu |
last_indexed | 2024-04-24T19:46:34Z |
publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
publisher | De Gruyter |
record_format | Article |
series | Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte |
spelling | doaj.art-aac8fed0410444b085ead44cdbd3df382024-03-25T07:28:55ZdeuDe GruyterJahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte0075-28002196-68422023-05-0164193010.1515/jbwg-2023-0002Digitizing Carroll D. Wright’s “Hand and Machine Labor” StudyAtack Jeremy0A. Margo Robert1W. Rhode Paul2Department of Economics, Box 351819 Station B, 2301 Vanderbilt Place, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN. 37235, USADepartment of Economics, Boston University, 270 Bay State Road Room 311,Boston MA02215-1403USADepartment of Economics, University of Michigan, 611 Tappan Ave, 205Lorch Hall Ann Arbor, MI48109-1220, USAWe describe our digitization of a uniquely detailed study of 19th century production methods assembled by the United States Department of Labor (1899). The staff spent five years collecting and assembling data on the production of hundreds of highly specific products (as well as some services) at the production operations level using traditional artisanal (“hand”) methods and by the (then) most modern “machine” methods, measuring productivity in terms of the time taken to complete a specific task or set of tasks. The data proved too complex and voluminous to use, except as a source of anecdotes, until now. We describe how we have made these invaluable data from the first industrial revolution tractable to modern analysis and how they might be used to provide insight and perspective into the effects of robotics and artificial intelligence on labor during the third industrial revolution.https://doi.org/10.1515/jbwg-2023-0002keywords: automationmechanizationsteam powerhand labormachine laborpdfocrgerunddeskillingautomationmechanisierungdampfkrafthandarbeitmaschinenarbeitgerundiumdequalifizierungn 03n 06n 08j 03 |
spellingShingle | Atack Jeremy A. Margo Robert W. Rhode Paul Digitizing Carroll D. Wright’s “Hand and Machine Labor” Study Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte keywords: automation mechanization steam power hand labor machine labor ocr gerund deskilling automation mechanisierung dampfkraft handarbeit maschinenarbeit gerundium dequalifizierung n 03 n 06 n 08 j 03 |
title | Digitizing Carroll D. Wright’s “Hand and Machine Labor” Study |
title_full | Digitizing Carroll D. Wright’s “Hand and Machine Labor” Study |
title_fullStr | Digitizing Carroll D. Wright’s “Hand and Machine Labor” Study |
title_full_unstemmed | Digitizing Carroll D. Wright’s “Hand and Machine Labor” Study |
title_short | Digitizing Carroll D. Wright’s “Hand and Machine Labor” Study |
title_sort | digitizing carroll d wright s hand and machine labor study |
topic | keywords: automation mechanization steam power hand labor machine labor ocr gerund deskilling automation mechanisierung dampfkraft handarbeit maschinenarbeit gerundium dequalifizierung n 03 n 06 n 08 j 03 |
url | https://doi.org/10.1515/jbwg-2023-0002 |
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