Cook Center Postdoctoral Associate Will Damron was recently published in the Explorations in Economic History Journal. His research explores a newly-collected dataset covering manufacturers in North Carolina in the early 1900s to examine the effects of electrification at the establishment level.
In this paper, Damron studies the gains from electrification and the effects on workers using a new dataset covering North Carolina manufacturers between 1905 and 1926. Data from the states Department of Labor and Printing provide detailed factory-level information on revenue, employment, capital, and energy use. This paper contributes to a large literature on the productivity effects of electrification.
Read the full article here: Gains from factory electrification: Evidence from North Carolina, 1905–1926