Industrious Revolution Analysis

In regards to the Industrious Revolution’s development, origins, and growth, de Vries gives us some insight on what he considers to be the factors that sparked this economic phenomenon. The rise of the industrious revolution is a combination of long hours of market work for adult males, and participation in the labor market by both women and children which resulted in the male breadwinner household, women homemakers, and children going to school. His claims focus primarily on the household of the 18th century and how they gradually came to interact with the market allowing for substantial change in the economy. We will also take a look at the strengths and weaknesses of his claims and compare his ideas to that of Adam Smith. The household

In “Industrious Revolution”, de Vries discusses how as the economy continues to expand so does the household and the markets involved. Households begin to divide labor towards market oriented production requiring the assistance of all members of the family involved in order to respond to economic incentives such as, new luxuries. Of course, this gradually changes as the household shifts into more specialized labor such as the adult male being the main provider, women performing housekeeping tasks, and children attending school. Consequently, a rise in production naturally follows this division of labor as more households are able to specialize in their productivity while beginning to for consumer demand in the economy. Consumer demand would then naturally push other areas of the market to increase their production to meet that demand. Adam Smith expresses that the division of labor has caused the greatest increase in production as stated, “The division of labor, however, so far as it can be introduced, occasions, in every art, a proportionable increase of the productive powers”, but is only carried the furthest within countries that enjoy the highest degree of industry. Similar to de Vries, Smith believes that the division of labor is hindered by limited opportunity for barter or exchange of goods and that the introduction of new commodities would force an individual to work harder or longer. Smith and de Vries both agree that the modern economy resulted from both consumer demand and the supply of market oriented labor which grew by means of reallocations of productive resources, becoming the driving force for economic