The conventional story of technological progress in agriculture is a tale of two ‘agricultural revolutions’—the first in the Early Middle Ages and the second in the eighteenth century—with a millennium of technological stagnation

11/27/14 1 © Meir Kohn, 2014 CHAPTER 4. TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS Expansion of the market creates new opportunities for producers. Taking advantage of these opportunities requires a reorganization of production, and this reorganization is itself a major source of increased productivity. Market expansion and reorganization together also create new opportunities for the adoption of technology—for the application of practical knowledge to production.1 The resulting technological progress—the improvement in the technology in use—further increases productivity. We will examine the nature of technological progress in preindustrial Europe—first in agriculture and then in industry. From this evidence, we will identify some common patterns and draw some conclusions about the nature and causes of technological progress in general.