A Pull–Push Theory of Industrial Revolutions

This paper presents a pull–push theory of industrial revolutions. Generalizing from the first industrial revolution in England and the second industrial revolution in the United States, it points to the presence of three necessary conditions, namely (i) the existence of a trigger event which creates (ii) new market opportunities (pull) as well as (iii) new process technologies (push). The result is a novel approach to the underlying cause(s) of industrial revolutions, one that is consistent with both material and non-material views in the literature, as well as with demand-shock and supply-shock views. Furthermore, it is consistent with previous accounts of the 19th-century rise of managerial capitalism. Lastly, it provides a set of necessary conditions for what constitutes an industrial revolution.