Historical industrialisation, path dependence and contemporary culture: the lasting imprint of economic heritage on local communities

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Huggins, R., Stuetzer, M., Obschonka, M. and Thompson, P. ORCID: 0000-0003-1961-7441, 2021. Historical industrialisation, path dependence and contemporary culture: the lasting imprint of economic heritage on local communities. Journal of Economic Geography. ISSN 1468-2702

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/jeg/lbab010

Abstract

Culture matters for regional economic development and is one source of cognitive lock-in that influences path creation and dependency. However, little is known about the sources of regional variation in culture. This study explores the long-term imprinting effect of the Industrial Revolution on cultural practices across local communities in Britain. Historical data from 1891 on the employment in large scale industries (e.g. textiles and steel) is used to estimate causal effects of industrialisation on five cultural dimensions. It is found that historical industrialisation is still reflected in contemporary local cultures marked by lower engagement with education and employment, less adherence to social rules but stronger collective action and social cohesion. It is concluded that one reason for the relatively poor effect of the public policies on local and regional economic development is that historical industrialisation has left a lasting legacy on contemporary culture in many places that impairs institutional efforts to foster change.

Item Type:

Journal article

Publication Title:

Journal of Economic Geography

Creators:

Huggins, R., Stuetzer, M., Obschonka, M. and Thompson, P.

Publisher:

Oxford University Press

Date:

26 March 2021

ISSN:

1468-2702