More Power to the People: Electricity Adoption, Technological Change, and Labor Conflict

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Lund University; Uppsala University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0507
• DOI: 10.1017/S0022050721000127
• 发表日期: 2021
• 页码: 481-512
• 关键词: polarization; compromise; outcomes; strikes; FUTURE; work; jobs

摘要

Will technical change spur conflicts in the labor market? In this study, we examine electricity adoption in Sweden during the first decades of the twentieth century. Exploiting that proximity to hydropowered plants shaped the electricity network independently of previous local conditions, we estimate the impact of electricity on labor strikes. Our results indicate that electricity adoption preceded an increase in conflicts, but strikes were of an offensive nature and most common in sectors with increasing labor demand. This suggests that electrification provided workers with a stronger bargaining position from which they could voice their claims.