Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

A common feature of Britain's staple industries during the sixty years to 1939 was a rejection of the new production technologies adopted by their main overseas competitors. This project investigated the extent to which 'path dependence' accounts for the failure of these industries to adopt the new production technologies, via a case study of the British coal industry. One of Britain's most important nineteenth century staple industries, coal mining experienced a particularly severe interwar decline. Meanwhile, it remained less mechanised than most of its major competitors, including some countries where geological conditions were regarded as less favourable. The project assessed the extent to which 'technical interrelatedness' impeded modernisation through complementarities between different items of plant, which reduced the profitability of modernising any one stage of the production process. These problems were magnified by the extremely high costs of modernising certain stages of production. Such problems were compounded by 'institutional interrelatedness' arising from Britain's fragmented mineral royalty system. The project analysed whether any significant 'lock-in' to prevailing technologies existed, the mechanisms through which any lock-in occurred, and the efficiency losses arising therefrom.

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The data comprise: Comparative costs of getting coal by machine and hand in 1885 Number of coal cutting machines at work and estimated output during 1899 and 1900 Diffusion of coal-cutters in the United States and the United Kingdom (1899-1901) Performance of Pickquick bar-type coal cutting machines in representative longwall seams over a 12 month period, c. 1905 Approximate working costs (d per ton) for hand-holing, machine-holing, and machine-holing in combination with mechanical conveyance Comparison of hand and mechanised mining in 1915 Comparison of the gross weight (pounds) of mine cars hauling 4 tons of coal in the United States and England Empirical results of working by four methods the same seam, 2.75-3 feet thick, c. 1923 Application of machinery in Scottish mines, 1905-24 Cost per ton for standing and running charges for coal-cutters, c. 1926 Distribution of working costs underground in a machine-mined seam (late 1920s) Average size of tub and weight of rail at 22 collieries in Yorkshire and the Midlands in 1929 Comparison of machine-cut mining using the intensive system and using non-intensive systems, 1929 Estimated costs of a 100 yard conveyor plant in 1929 Number of conveyors in use at the coal-face in Britain from 1907-1928 Approximate estimate of capital outlay for a mine with output of 400,000 tons per annum with shafts 300 yards deep, in 1928 Performance of diamond coal-cutters in three different seams, c. 1904 Number of coal conveyors and their diffusion, Britain, 1928-36 General particulars of 19 colliery faces using conveyors, surveyed in 1937 Gate conveyor/gate end loading arrangements in a sample of collieries using face conveyors, 1929 and 1937 Particulars of gate haulage facilities at seams with face conveyors, 1937 19 loading stations surveyed in 1937, in collieries that employ face conveyors Upkeep costs of coal cutting machines at one colliery in 1937 Coal-cutting machines used at 18 collieries with face-conveyors in 1937 Average life of different types of face conveyors, and their upkeep costs at a number of collieries in 1937 Average life and cost of rubber conveyor belting in several collieries for 1937 Particulars of annual depreciation and upkeep costs of machine mining equipment at a colliery in 1937 Labour productivity below ground at 17 machine-mining collieries in 1937 Diffusion of coal-cutting machines, 1900-1903 Diffusion of coal-cutters in the United Kingdom (1900-26) and the United States (1903-18) Coal produced per shift by coal-cutters, by width of seam, c. 1902-3 Survey of 31 pits using mechanical coal-cutting, c. 1903 Results of a test sample, taken at random, of the working results of individual pits with various levels of mechanisation for 1933 Regional data for coal production, productivity, stoppages, and percentage output cut by coal, 1932-33 Mechanisation at British coal mines 1937 and 1939 Comparative costs of hand and machine mining in ten seams, c. 1934 Comparative costs of various types of haulage over a period of four years Output per manshift and percentage of coal won by mechanical means, principal coal-exporting countries Tonnage mechanically conveyed in Britain (thousand tons) 1930-1938 Diffusion of mechanical picks and drills in the United Kingdom Number of storage-battery locomotives in use in Britain Data on percentage distribution of workers and output per manshift in Germany, Poland, and The Netherlands, 1913-37 Output per man-shift for main coal-exporting nations, 1913 and 1920-38 (metric tons) Available detailed regional data on mechanisation, 1913 and 1925-38 (some years omitted) Mining output and productivity in various countries to 1924 (thousand tons - output; tons - output per person) James Joicey and Co Ltd: Estimated costs of switching from endless rope to main and tail haulage in the Busty seam, Handen Hold Colliery, Durham, 1938 North Walbottle Colliery, summary of coal cutting cost per ton, October 1902-September 1903 Comparison of coal cutting costs and hand-hewing costs at North Walbottle Colliery, c. 1910 Details of coal cutting machine productivity for cutting and heading, collected from two collieries in 1896 Average age of mines in 1925 Please note: this study does not include information on named individuals and would therefore not be useful for personal family history research.

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Compilation or synthesis of existing material