The Industrial Revolution and Industrialization in the UK: Institutional Change and Labor Migration

Author: Gao Debu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: This book studies the institutional changes and labor migration during the British Industrial Revolution and the process of industrialization. The essence of the Industrial Revolution is the shift of the resource base for human production and life from non-renewable land to renewable capital. This process is both one of institutional change and one of technological change. As an institutional change process, it was achieved through centuries of property rights revolution and commercial revolution, while as a technological change process, it was realized through the Industrial Revolution and industrialization. This book follows the method of unifying history and logic, employing theories of institutional economics and development economics, and through the study of British economic history, reveals the transformation from a traditional economy to a modern economy and the laws of economic modernization. The main contents include: the establishment of the capitalist private property system, the development and evolution of the market system, the relationship between the Agricultural Revolution and the Industrial Revolution, technology and structure during the Industrial Revolution and industrialization, industrialization and urbanization, changes in social and class structures, etc. The research of this book aims to answer the following questions through the experience and lessons of British economic history: How can an economy with a surplus of labor solve the pressure of increasing population on land through institutional and technological innovation? How can employment be created and expanded simultaneously during technological innovation, accelerating the transfer of agricultural labor to non-agricultural sectors? How can market contradictions, structural friction, environmental damage, and "urban diseases" be addressed in this process? And how can relative social stability be achieved during rapid socio-economic transformation? This book is a research monograph that can be used as a reference for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as for economic theorists and decision-makers.