Evolving Comparative Advantage in International Shipbuilding During the Transition from Wood to Steel

نویسنده

  • W. Walker
چکیده

Can temporary initial input cost advantages have a long-run impact on the spatial distribution of production and trade? I study this question in the context of the international shipbuilding industry during the transition from wood to metal ship production (1850-1912). Input price advantages gave Britain an early lead in metal shipbuilding, while the U.S. and Canada specialized in wood ship production. However, after 1890 Britain’s initial price advantages disappeared. By comparing production patterns on the Atlantic Coast of North America, which faced British competition, to the Great Lakes, which were isolated from competition, I show that competition from initially advantaged foreign firms substantially reduced the ability of North American producers to transition to metal ship production. Government protection and support moderated these effects for some Atlantic Coast producers, allowing them to survive the demise of wood shipbuilding. I also provide evidence that the mechanism driving the persistence of Britain’s lead was the development of large pools of skilled craft workers. These results shed light on the role of past conditions in influencing current production and trade patterns, with implications for modern debates over the use of industrial policy and tariff protection. ∗I am grateful to the International Economics Section at Princeton for support and advice while writing this paper. I thank Philip Ager, Leah Boustan, Stephen Broadberry, Capser Worm Hansen, Ian Kaey, Petra Moser, Henry Overman, Ariel Pakes and Jean-Laurent Rosenthal and seminar participants at Caltech, Copenhagen, Princeton, Warwick and NYU Stern for helpful comments. Meng Xu and Anna Sudol provided excellent research assistance. Funding was provided by a Cole Grant from the Economic History Association, the Hellman Fellowship at UCLA, a research grant from UCLA’s Ziman Center for Real Estate, and NSF Career Grant No. 1552692.

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تاریخ انتشار 2017