Data and Code for: "Rage Against the Machines: Labor-Saving Technology and Unrest in Industrializing England."

Can new technology cause social instability and unrest? We examine the famous "Captain Swing" riots in 1830s England. Newly-collected data on threshing machine diffusion shows that labor-saving technology was associated with more riots. We instrument technology adoption with the share of heavy soils in a parish: IV estimates demonstrate that threshing machines were an important cause of unrest. Where alternative employment opportunities softened the blow of new technology, there was less rioting. Conversely, where enclosures had impoverished workers, the effect of threshing machines on rioting was amplified.

新兴技术是否会导致社会动荡与不安？本研究审视了19世纪30年代英国著名的“斯温上尉”暴动。通过对打谷机扩散的新收集数据进行分析，我们发现节省劳动力的技术与其引发的暴动数量呈正相关。我们使用教区中重土质的比例作为技术采纳的指标：工具变量法的IV估计结果表明，打谷机是引发不安的重要因素。在替代就业机会缓解新技术冲击的地区，暴动现象较少。反之，在圈地运动导致工人贫困的地区，打谷机对暴动的影响被放大。