"Productivity on the cheap"? The "more looms" experiment and the Lancashire weaving industry during the inter-war years.
Two major debates in the literature, productivity performance and the decline of the cotton industry, are joined in the analysis presented in this article on the attempts to raise productivity through the introduction of the more looms per weaver system in cotton weaving in the inter-war years. We find that the limited resultant changes were the outcome of understandable predisposition to maintain co-operative behaviour which meant that productivity enhancing schemes with long term potential were sacrificed for more modest schemes which preserved consensus in the short term.
Bowden
S
S
The University of Sheffield.
Higgins
D M
DM
D003020:Clothing / Q000191:economics / Q000266:history / Q000523:psychology; D032561:Cotton Fiber / Q000191:economics / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D004526:Efficiency / Q000502:physiology; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational / Q000191:economics / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D004651:Employment / Q000191:economics / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D004739:England / Q000208:ethnology; D049673:History, 20th Century; D016272:Occupational Health / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D012449:Safety / Q000191:economics / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D013783:Textile Industry / Q000191:economics / Q000193:education / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence