THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN MINIATURE:THE SPINNING JENNY IN BRITAIN, FRANCE, AND INDIA

This paper uses the adoption and invention of the spinning jenny as a test case to understandwhy the industrial revolution occurred in Britain in the eighteenth century rather than inFrance or India. It is shown that wages were much higher relative to capital prices in Britainthan in other countries. Calculation of the profitability of adopting the spinning jenny showsthat it was profitable in Britain but not in France or in India. Since the jenny was profitableto use only in Britain, it was only in Britain that it was worth incurring the costs necessary todevelop it. That is why the jenny was invented in Britain but not elsewhere. Irrespective ofthe quality of their institutions or the progressiveness of their cultures, neither the French northe Indians would have found it profitable to mechanize cotton production in the eighteenthcentury....