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Digitizing Carroll D. Wright’s “Hand and Machine Labor” Study

Digitizing Carroll D. Wright’s “Hand and Machine Labor” Study AbstractWe describe our digitization of a uniquely detailed study of 19th century production methods assembled by the United States Department of Labor (1899). The staff spent five years collecting and assembling data on the production of hundreds of highly specific products (as well as some services) at the production operations level using traditional artisanal (“hand”) methods and by the (then) most modern “machine” methods, measuring productivity in terms of the time taken to complete a specific task or set of tasks. The data proved too complex and voluminous to use, except as a source of anecdotes, until now. We describe how we have made these invaluable data from the first industrial revolution tractable to modern analysis and how they might be used to provide insight and perspective into the effects of robotics and artificial intelligence on labor during the third industrial revolution. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte / Economic History Yearbook de Gruyter

Digitizing Carroll D. Wright’s “Hand and Machine Labor” Study

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Publisher
de Gruyter
Copyright
© 2023 Jeremy Atack/Robert A. Margo/Paul W. Rhode, published by De Gruyter
ISSN
2196-6842
eISSN
2196-6842
DOI
10.1515/jbwg-2023-0002
Publisher site
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Abstract

AbstractWe describe our digitization of a uniquely detailed study of 19th century production methods assembled by the United States Department of Labor (1899). The staff spent five years collecting and assembling data on the production of hundreds of highly specific products (as well as some services) at the production operations level using traditional artisanal (“hand”) methods and by the (then) most modern “machine” methods, measuring productivity in terms of the time taken to complete a specific task or set of tasks. The data proved too complex and voluminous to use, except as a source of anecdotes, until now. We describe how we have made these invaluable data from the first industrial revolution tractable to modern analysis and how they might be used to provide insight and perspective into the effects of robotics and artificial intelligence on labor during the third industrial revolution.

Journal

Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte / Economic History Yearbook – de Gruyter

Published: May 1, 2023

Keywords: Keywords: automation; mechanization; steam power; hand labor; machine labor; PDF; OCR; gerund; deskilling; Automation; Mechanisierung; Dampfkraft; Handarbeit; Maschinenarbeit; Gerundium; Dequalifizierung; N 03; N 06; N 08; J 03

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