2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Work Experience and Literacy in Nineteenth Century England

Research Project

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Project/Area Number	17K03838
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Section	一般
Research Field	Economic history
Research Institution	Osaka University
Principal Investigator	Yamamoto Chiaki 大阪大学, 経済学研究科, 教授 (10388415)
Project Period (FY)	2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
Keywords	イギリス経済史 / 産業革命 / 生活水準 / 識字率
Outline of Final Research Achievements	Using criminal records showing prisoners’ reading and writing skills, this study examines changes in literacy during the British Industrial Revolution. The data are from Quarter Sessions records in Staffordshire and Bedfordshire. While Staffordshire is characterised by its coal, metal processing, and pottery industries, Bedfordshire had no particular industry other than traditional straw plaiting and lace making, in which women were employed under the putting-out system. In general, the possibility of acquiring and improving literacy declined throughout the Industrial Revolution period, but the reading skill acquisition is likely to have improved during this period. While Staffordshire men are more likely to acquire reading skills than Bedfordshire men, Bedfordshire women are more likely to acquire reading skills than their counterparts in Staffordshire.
Free Research Field	経済史
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	先行研究ではイギリス産業革命は児童労働を拡大する方向に働いたと考えられており、本研究も、この認識を補強する結果を得た。他方で、男性使用的で高賃金な近代産業の発展が見られたスタッフォードシャーと、伝統的な女性の職業が残存したベッドフォードシャーとで、前者で男性が、後者で女性が、より高い確率で読みの能力を獲得できたという結果からは、その地域における社会経済的背景は、子ども達の人的資本形成のあり方に大きな影響を与えたことを示唆する。このことは、地域的文脈を無視した画一的な政策は、国内的なものであれ国際的なものであれ、政策意図とは異なった格差を地域間・国家間で引き起こす可能性があることを含意する。