An annual index of Irish industrial production, 1800–1913

We construct an annual index of Irish industrial output for 1800-1921, the period during which the entire island was in a political Union with Great Britain. We also construct a new industrial price index. Irish industrial output grew by an average of 1.4 per cent per annum over the period as a whole, and by 1.8 per cent per annum between 1800 and the outbreak of World War I. Industrial growth was more rapid than previously thought before the Famine, and slower afterwards. While Ireland did not experience deindustrialization either before the Famine or afterwards, its industrial growth was disappointing when considered in a comparative perspective.

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An annual index of Irish industrial production, 1800–1913

Kenny

Lennard

O'Rourke

2022

The Economic History Review

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Modifying the success story of Sweden: Revised output and labour productivity figures for manufacturing, 1869–1950

Hamark,

Prado

2024

The Economic History Review

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The rampant growth rate of output and productivity in manufacturing borne out by Swedish Historical National Accounts (HNA) has nurtured the notion that the Swedish rise to prosperity was propelled by the confluence of disproportionately high levels of sophistication and very low levels of output per worker. The thrust of the argument is that this unique configuration allowed Sweden to leapfrog into modernization. The time has come to put this arresting claim under scrutiny, which is the foremost aim of this paper. This claim, we argue, is founded on a questionable empirical foundation. The most frequently used series of outputs from manufacturing at large and from groups of industries are those of the Swedish HNA. For several reasons, these series are inappropriate to use in studies assessing the rate of output and productivity increases before 1950. We have established new series of output and labour input for manufacturing at large between 1869 and 1950 that are suitable for investigations of productivity growth rates. The resulting series significantly raises the level of output per worker in the early part of the period and hence lowers the estimated growth rates of productivity for the era as a whole.

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Irish GDP since independence

Kenny

2024

The Economic History Review

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This paper constructs annual gross domestic product (GDP) estimates for Ireland (1924–47) to join the first complete official aggregates. The new series is deployed to revisit Ireland's economic performance in the post‐independence decades. Ireland's economy grew at just under 1.5 per cent per annum and average living standards improved by 40 per cent. The bulk of this was due to labour productivity improvements. Starting in 1924 captures the civil war recovery and paints a more positive picture of the 1920s, whilst the traditional narrative of a ‛mild’ Great Depression is upheld. The 1930s recovery was aided by strong contributions from services and industry, whilst the economy contracted by almost 7 per cent during the ‛Emergency’. Though supporting O'Rourke's view that Irish growth was not unique against European peers, the new data provide evidence of stronger convergence against UK regions. Industry contributed most to growth during the period, growing at 3.6 per cent per annum. The equivalent rate for services was 1.3 per cent, though it contributed substantially during recovery periods. Agricultural output hardly changed due to its post‐war contraction. This paper joins a growing number of studies that suggest that Ireland was poorer at independence than previously believed.

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An annual index of Irish industrial production, 1800–1913

Cited by 3 publications

References 46 publications