How Much Did the Liberty Shipbuilders Learn? New Evidence for an Old Case Study

Peter Thompson

156 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Political Economy

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Economic Growth and Productivity Historical Economic and Social Studies Global trade and economics

Abstract

This paper offers some new estimates of the contribution of learning to the rapid increases in labor productivity observed in the construction of Liberty ships during World War II. The study exploits new data on physical capital investment and vessel quality constructed from contemporary records held at the National Archives. Estimates of the rate of learning are shown to be sensitive to the inclusion of the new capital data, and data on vessel quality provide evidence that part of the measured productivity increases were secured at the expense of quality.

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References

1993Making a Miracle 1976Perspectives on Technology 1990The Persistence and Transfer of Learning in Industrial Settings 1965Learning and World War II Production Functions 1995A Bayesian Learning Model Fitted to a Variety of Empirical Learning Curves 2000What's Experience Got to Do With It? Sources of Cost Reduction in a Large Specialty Chemicals Producer 1984The History of Progress Functions as a Managerial Technology

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