Differences between models of industrialization are increasingly recognized as an important element of global economic history, and the quality of jobs is receiving new interest as a better indicator of living standards than income alone. This paper considers the implications of historical development models for job quality using the spinning section of textile manufacture in the early United States as a case study. The three factory systems that originated in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and around Philadelphia varied in technical choice, management practices, and establishment size, and exhibited heterogeneity in components of job quality. The paper uses quantitative evidence, including more than 2000 observations of early industrial workers’ wages, qualitative material from government investigations, worker letters, and company correspondence, and the Historical Job Quality Indicators to analyse work quality for spinning workers and to explore variation between the three industrial models. Workers in the more competitive Philadelphia model had lower real earnings, less job security, and higher work intensity than employees of the paternalistic Massachusetts mills. The paper highlights the importance of considering variation by location when evaluating historical living standards and the implications of industrialization strategies for quality of life.

中文翻译：

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生活水平和发展路径：1790-1840 年美国工业化时期的工厂系统和工作质量


工业化模式之间的差异越来越被认为是全球经济史的一个重要因素，就业质量作为比单纯收入更好的生活水平指标而受到新的关注。本文以美国早期纺织品制造业的纺纱部分为案例研究，考虑了历史发展模式对工作质量的影响。起源于罗德岛州、马萨诸塞州和费城周边地区的三个工厂系统在技术选择、管理实践和机构规模方面各不相同，并且在工作质量的组成部分方面表现出异质性。本文使用定量证据，包括对早期产业工人工资的 2000 多次观察、来自政府调查的定性材料、工人信件和公司通信，以及历史工作质量指标来分析纺纱工人的工作质量，并探索三种工业模式之间的差异。与家长式的马萨诸塞州工厂的员工相比，竞争更激烈的费城模式中的工人的实际收入更低，工作保障更少，工作强度更高。本文强调了在评估历史生活水平时考虑不同地区差异的重要性以及工业化战略对生活质量的影响。