Human Capital Formation During the First Industrial Revolution: Evidence from the use of Steam Engines
研究了英国工业革命期间技术变革对人力资本形成的影响，发现蒸汽机使用增加了熟练工人比例，但降低了识字率和入学率，并加剧了性别不平等。
Abstract We examine the effect of technical change on human capital formation during England's Industrial Revolution. Using the number of steam engines installed by 1800 as a synthetic indicator of technological change and occupational statistics to measure working skills (using HISCLASS), we establish a positive correlation between the use of steam engines and the share of skilled workers at the county level. We use exogenous variation in carboniferous rock strata (containing coal to fuel the engines) to show that the effect was causal. While technological change stimulated the formation of working skills, it had an overall negative effect on the formation of primary education, captured by literacy and school enrolment rates. It also led to higher gender inequality in literacy.