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Spinning Tales about Japanese Cotton Spinning: Saxonhouse (1974) and Lessons from New Data

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 June 2015

Serguey Braguinsky  and
David A. Hounshell
Serguey Braguinsky
Affiliation:
Associate Professor of Economics, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. E-mail: sbrag@andrew.cmu.edu.
David A. Hounshell
Affiliation:
Professor of Technology and Social Change, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. E-mail: hounshell@cmu.edu.
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Abstract

We revisit the story of technology adoption and diffusion in Japan's Meiji-era cotton spinning industry, the study of which was pioneered by Gary Saxonhouse (1974). Using a novel data set and modern methodology, we argue that both the ease with which the best technology diffused and the role of “slavish imitation” in this process may have been overstated. We find an important role played by market competition, including asset reallocation. Our analyses provide richer insights into the complex phenomena of technology diffusion, innovation, and economic growth.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 75 , Issue 2 , June 2015 , pp. 364 - 404
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 2015 

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Footnotes

We thank two anonymous referees and our editor, Dr. Paul Rhode for insightful comments and advice that made the paper better. We especially acknowledge Dr. Rhode's extensive and far-reaching work editing the paper. We have never before had experience with another editor who would think so deeply about and become so much immersed in the paper, to the point in which we almost felt like he was a thoughtful and brilliant coauthor. Japanese colleagues, Atsushi Ohyama, Tetsuji Okazaki, Kanji Tamagawa, and Naosuke Takamura provided useful discussions of the Japanese cotton spinning industry, with the former two also helping out with data collection and coding. Braguinsky acknowledges financial support from the Berkman Foundation, and the Department of Social and Decision Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. Needless to say, we bear the sole responsibility for any remaining errors or misconceptions.

References

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