Social unrest

Labour economics

Engineering

Economics

Computer science

Mechanical engineering

Threshing

Politics

Political science

Operations management

Margin (machine learning)

Unrest

Machine learning

American Economic Review Insights

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. (JEL J24, L16, N13, N33, N53, O33, Q16)

Rage against the Machines: Labor-Saving Technology and Unrest in Industrializing England