arbiter
JournalsAccount

The Political Economy of Skills, Occupational Entitlements, and Social Mobility: Evidence from Industrializing Coventry, 1790–1850

Louis Henderson & Moritz Kaiser

European Review of Economic History2025https://doi.org/10.1093/ereh/heae019article
AJG 3ABDC A
Weight
0.50

Abstract

This paper examines the interaction between political economy and social mobility during early industrialization in England. We analyze changes in male social mobility patterns in industrializing Coventry (c.1790–1850) following a transformation of key institutions affecting the labor market. Social mobility was framed by the interaction between trade policy, occupational skill formation, and municipal government. Using a longitudinal dataset and regression-discontinuity analysis, we find that liberal reforms to trade policy and municipal government during the late-1820s and early-1830s eroded the value of industry-specific social capital, while increasing the contribution of general human capital to social mobility.

Open via your library →

Cite this paper

https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/ereh/heae019

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{louis2025,
  title        = {{The Political Economy of Skills, Occupational Entitlements, and Social Mobility: Evidence from Industrializing Coventry, 1790–1850}},
  author       = {Louis Henderson & Moritz Kaiser},
  journal      = {European Review of Economic History},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/ereh/heae019},
}

Paste directly into BibTeX, Zotero, or your reference manager.

Flag this paper

The Political Economy of Skills, Occupational Entitlements, and Social Mobility: Evidence from Industrializing Coventry, 1790–1850

Flags are reviewed by the Arbiter methodology team within 5 business days.

Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.