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Transatlantic technology transfer: Coal mine ventilation, 1870-1910

Author

Listed:
  • John Murray

    (Rhodes College)

  • Javier Silvestre

    (University of Zaragoza)

Abstract
"The Great Divergence debate emphasized the “geographic good luck” of European proximity to coal deposits. We consider the role, not of luck, but of the development and diffusion of coal production technology. Mechanical ventilation began as a response to methane risks in Belgian mines and soon spread to the Ruhr valley, Great Britain and Pennsylvania, all places considered in this paper. Engineers tested different machines and publicized the results, which were translated in the mining press elsewhere. Property rights to innovation proved flexible when necessary. Mechanical mine ventilation exemplified the best of Western industrial science: inquisitive, open, flexible, and responsive to empirical results whether good or bad. It was not luck but the Western approach to new technology that enabled coal exploitation."

Suggested Citation

  • John Murray & Javier Silvestre, 2018. "Transatlantic technology transfer: Coal mine ventilation, 1870-1910," Working Papers 18011, Economic History Society.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehs:wpaper:18011
    as

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    File URL: http://www.ehs.org.uk/dotAsset/f6a9726f-0815-49f9-ab56-09816665e880.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mokyr, Joel, 1992. "The Lever of Riches: Technological Creativity and Economic Progress," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195074772.
    2. John E. Murray & Javier Silvestre, 2015. "Small-scale technologies and European coal mine safety, 1850–1900," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 68(3), pages 887-910, August.
    3. Allen,Robert C., 2009. "The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521868273.
    4. Christine Macleod, 1992. "Strategies for innovation: the diffusion of new technology in nineteenth-century British industry," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 45(2), pages 285-307, May.
    5. Clark, Gregory & Jacks, David, 2007. "Coal and the Industrial Revolution, 1700–1869," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(1), pages 39-72, April.
    6. Alessandro Nuvolari, 2004. "Collective invention during the British Industrial Revolution: the case of the Cornish pumping engine," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 28(3), pages 347-363, May.
    7. Schmookler, Jacob, 1962. "Economic Sources of Inventive Activity," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(1), pages 1-20, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    JEL classification:

    • N00 - Economic History - - General - - - General

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