The Journal of Economic History

Table of Contents - 1996 - Volume 56, Issue 01  

Articles

The Scale of Production in Western Economic Development: A Comparison of Official Industry Statistics in the United States, Britain, France, and Germany, 1905–1913

Janice Rye Kinghorna1 and John Vincent Nyea2

a1 doctoral candidate

a2 Associate Professor of Economics and History at Washington University, Department of Economics, Campus Box 1208, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130.

Abstract

We use census data and information on large firms to generate descriptions of structural features of Western industry around 1906. We find that although the United States conforms to existing stereotypes, most other nations do not. German industry stands out as having the smallest plants and firms and the lowest concentration levels both in the aggregate and when grouped by industrial classifications. Equally startling, French levels of plant size and concentration are comparable to those of the United States. We speculate on the importance of these results for rethinking the traditional analysis of industrial development in the early twentieth century.