Productivity and Performance in the Paper Industry: Labour, Capital, and Technology in Britain and America, 1860-1914 (Cambridge Studies in Modern Economic History)

In a significant new contribution to economic history, Dr. Magee examines an important British industry that, like many others, declined in relative importance during the period prior to 1914. He compares Britain's performance in papermaking with its main international rivals of the time, America and Germany, addressing such central subjects as technological change, entrepreneurship and productivity. The book will be invaluable to scholars of economic history as well as those simply interested in papermaking.

"Gary Magee has written a thoughtful, rather abstract study of productivity in American and British papermaking during the second half of the nineteenth century." Leonard N. Rosenband, Isis

"This study is unambiguously located within a well-defined field of research, that of the relative decline of British manufacturing supremacy and, more particularly, the performance of late Victorian and Edwardian entrepreneurs. Its subject is well-chosen. ...cuts a fresh path through the hesitations of an old debate." Pierre Claude Reynard, Journal of Economic History

"Its real contribution is not so much the admittedly neglected case of papermakingg, but the attempt to integrate the perceived entrepreneurial failure into a credible economic analysis." Andrew Godley, EH.NET

"This is a welcome addition to books on the history of papermaking, particularly as it is a comparative study of the industries in Britain and America." Richard L. Hills, Technology and Culture