The Origins of the Factory

Question 1

Describe the putting-out system

Answer 1

→ Before the industrial revolution, there was a merchant
→ He bought raw materials
He then delivered them to people who worked on them at home

Question 2

One argument for why the putting out system was abolished and factories emerged

Answer 2

The steam engine was created and could be hooked up to machines as a powersource
With a power source, it is more efficient to have multiple machines combined to one engine (more output, same labour)
Efficiently powering machinery required concentrating machines and workers in a single place - the factory.
The steam engine took away domestic production and allowed us to concentrate production in factories

Question 3

Marglin’s argument for why factories emerged

Answer 3

He argues that the transition to factories took place before the steam engine was introduced to them.
Factories were created:
→ To control fraud, people were taking raw materials and even though bosses knew it they couldn’t do anything about it
→ Better control over raw materials allowed for more control over production
→ To control the timing and pace of work (worktimes and paces)
→ To appropriate the benefits of innovation.
In the domestic system improvements in production only benefited you, in the industrial system they benefit everyone

Question 4

Engineering efficiency

Answer 4

→ Engineering efficiency: outputs/inputs.
→ So, output might be bolts of cloth; inputs would be wear and tear on machines, raw material, and the physical exertion of labour. Ifthis ratio increases:
People work voluntarily and pay is associated with productivity
Then, nobody is worse off and most people are better off as a result of this

Question 5

Economic efficiency

Answer 5

→ Economic efficiency: outputoutput price/inputinput price
→ This ratio can be increased by:
→ Increasing output or reducing input
→ Increasing the price of the output or reducing the price of the input.

Question 6

What did the factory system do?

Answer 6

It imposed factory discipline. Workers became employees, were required to attend work at the hours set by the employer and their effort was supervised. This meant that they had to work harder. This was a way of increasing outputs.
It effectively reduced ‘wages’. That is to say, supervision reduced the theft of materials. This meant that the cost of a major input fell.
It transferred the benefits of innovation to the factory owner

Question 7

Marglin’s argument for what the factory system did

Answer 7

Increased economic efficiency but did not change engineering efficiency
Was distributionally motivated - that is, it was a way of shifting income from
employees to owners.
This argument is interesting because it raises the more general possibility that changes in the organization of production may be distributionally motivated which, of course, has profound implications for industrial relations.
Causes problems with employees