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More power to the people : Electricity adoption, technological change and social conflict

Enflo, Kerstin LU orcid ; Molinder, Jakob LU and Karlsson, Tobias LU (2019)
Abstract
History has shown that new technology can disrupt societies, and current developments in automation have raised anxious speculation on what might happen if stable middle-class jobs are taken over by machines. This column analyses the impact of technological change on labour markets and social protests, taking the case of the adoption of electricity in early 20th century Sweden. It finds that electrification did increase the incidence of local strikes, but that disputes were associated with workers demanding higher wages and better working conditions rather than attempting to block innovation.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Other contribution
publication status
published
subject
categories
Popular Science
publisher
Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)
project
From Sundsvall to Saltsjöbaden: A regional perspective on strikes at the Swedish labor market
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
5dd14343-762a-4559-a335-5d67ff2ca9d4
alternative location
https://voxeu.org/article/electricity-adoption-technological-change-and-social-conflict
date added to LUP
2019-10-23 11:22:44
date last changed
2022-02-08 02:20:08
@misc{5dd14343-762a-4559-a335-5d67ff2ca9d4,
  abstract     = {{History has shown that new technology can disrupt societies, and current developments in automation have raised anxious speculation on what might happen if stable middle-class jobs are taken over by machines. This column analyses the impact of technological change on labour markets and social protests, taking the case of the adoption of electricity in early 20th century Sweden. It finds that electrification did increase the incidence of local strikes, but that disputes were associated with workers demanding higher wages and better working conditions rather than attempting to block innovation.}},
  author       = {{Enflo, Kerstin and Molinder, Jakob and Karlsson, Tobias}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{10}},
  publisher    = {{Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)}},
  title        = {{More power to the people : Electricity adoption, technological change and social conflict}},
  url          = {{https://voxeu.org/article/electricity-adoption-technological-change-and-social-conflict}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}