skip to content

Faculty of Economics

CWPE Cover

Ristuccia, C. A. and Solomou , S.

General Purpose Technologies and Economic Growth: Electricity Diffusion in the Manufacturing Sector Before WWII

CWPE1048

Abstract: This paper evaluates the diffusion of electricity within the context of a GPT perspective. The paper develops a new comparative data set on the usage of electricity in the manufacturing sectors of the US, Britain, France, Germany and Japan and proceeds to evaluate the hypotheses of a productivity slowdown and of a productivity bonus as postulated by many existing GPT models.

Keywords: Copyright, General Purpose Technologies, Economic Growth, Economic History, Productivity, Long Swings

JEL Codes: N11 N12 N13 N14 N60 O40

Author links: Cristiano Ristuccia  Solomos Solomou  

PDF: https://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/research-files/repec/cam/pdf/cwpe1048.pdf

Open Access Link: https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.1040