{"title":"Labor scarcity, technology adoption and innovation: evidence from the cholera pandemics in 19th century France","authors":"Raphaël Franck","doi":"10.1007/s10887-024-09241-3","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>To analyze the impact of labor scarcity on technology adoption and innovation, this study uses the differential spread of cholera across France in 1832, 1849 and 1854, before the transmission mode of this disease was understood. The results suggest that a larger share of cholera deaths in the population, which can be causally linked to summer temperature levels, had a positive and significant short-run effect on technology adoption and innovation in agriculture but a negative and significant short-run impact on technology adoption in industry. These results can be explained by the positive impact of labor scarcity on human capital formation.</p>","PeriodicalId":48110,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Growth","volume":"29 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-02-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Economic Growth","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10887-024-09241-3","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ECONOMICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
To analyze the impact of labor scarcity on technology adoption and innovation, this study uses the differential spread of cholera across France in 1832, 1849 and 1854, before the transmission mode of this disease was understood. The results suggest that a larger share of cholera deaths in the population, which can be causally linked to summer temperature levels, had a positive and significant short-run effect on technology adoption and innovation in agriculture but a negative and significant short-run impact on technology adoption in industry. These results can be explained by the positive impact of labor scarcity on human capital formation.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Economic Growth, is designed to serve as the principal outlet for theoretical as well as empirical research in economic growth and dynamic macroeconomics. The editorial board consists of prominent researchers in the fields of economic growth, dynamic macroeconomics, international economics, urban economics, migration, and development, who are committed to academic excellence. Members of the editorial board are actively involved in the refereeing process of each paper and assure that the review process is of an exceptional quality. Furthermore, the journal commits itself to a timely response. The journal encourages the submission of high quality research broadly concerned with: Neoclassical Growth Models
Endogenous Growth Models
Income Distribution and Growth
Human Capital and Growth
Fertility and Growth
Trade and Growth
Development and Growth
Financial Development and Growth
Migration and Growth
Endogenous Technological Change
Money and Growth
Political Economy and Growth
Overlapping-Generations Models
Economic Fluctuations. 5-Year Impact Factor: 6.032 (2008)*
Subject Category ''Economics'': Rank 3 of 209 Officially cited as: J Econ Growth