Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-r7xzm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-19T05:09:28.773Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Reluctant Transformation: State Industrialization, Religion, and Human Capital in Nineteenth-Century Egypt

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2015

Mohamed Saleh*
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor at Toulouse School of Economics and the Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse. Mailing address: Manufacture des Tabacs, 21 Allée de Brienne, Building F, Office MF 524, Toulouse Cedex 6, 31015, France. E-mail: mohamed.saleh@tse-fr.eu.

Abstract

In 1805–1882, Egypt embarked on one of the earliest state industrialization programs. Using a new data source, the Egyptian nineteenth-century population censuses, I examine the impact of the program on the long-standing inter-religious human capital differentials, which were in favor of Christians. I find that there were inter-religious differentials in reaping the benefits (or losses) of industrialization. The first state industrialization wave was “de-skilling” among Muslims but “up-skilling” among Christians, while the second wave was “up-skilling” for both groups. I interpret the results within Lawrence F. Katz and Robert A. Margo (2013) framework of technical change.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

I sincerely thank Jean-Laurent Rosenthal, the former editor of The Journal of Economic History and three anonymous referees for their excellent comments. I am grateful to my PhD advisors, Dora Costa and Leah Boustan for their support and advice. I gratefully acknowledge the financial support for the digitization of the Egyptian census manuscripts that I received from IPUMS, EHA, and USC. I sincerely thank the National Archives of Egypt for their logistical support to undertake the project. I thank Jeffrey Nugent, Naomi Lamoreaux, Steven Ruggles, Joel Mokyr, Jeffrey Williamson, Price Fishback, Jeremy Atack, Ragui Assaad, Timur Kuran, Richard Easterlin, Christian Hellwig, Marti Mestieri, and Dimitris Pipinis for their valuable comments and suggestions. I benefited from presenting earlier versions of the paper at UCLA, NBER, EHA, Cliometric Society, USC, TSE, PSE, Warwick, Leicester, University of Southern Denmark, and Georgetown Public Policy Institute. Finally, I am indebted to Julie Iskander and the data entry team for their help on the digitization project. All errors are mine.

References

REFERENCES

Acemoglu, Daron, and Autor, David. Skills, Tasks and Technologies: Implications for Employment and Earnings. Handbook of Labor Economics 4B (2011): 1043–71.Google Scholar
Al-Gritli, Ali., Tarikh al-sina;a fi Misr fil nisf al-awwal min al-qarn al tasi' ‘ashar (History of Industry in Egypt in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century). Cairo: Dar Al-Ma'arif, 1952.Google Scholar
Al-Hitta, Ahmed A. Tarikh Misr al-iqtisadi fil qarn al tasi' ‘ashar (Economic History of Egypt in the Nineteenth Century). Cairo: Al-Masry Publishing, 1967.Google Scholar
Al-Raf'i, Abdulrahman. ‘Asr Muhammad Ali (The Era of Muhammad Ali). Cairo: Dar Al-Ma'arif, 1982 [1930].Google Scholar
Al-Raf'i, Abdulrahman. ‘Asr Ismail (The Era of Ismail). Cairo: Dar Al-Ma'arif, (1987) [1932].Google Scholar
Atack, Jeremy, Bateman, Fred, and Margo, Robert A.. Skill Intensity and Rising Wage Dispersion in Nineteenth-Century American Manufacturing. The Journal of Economic History, 64, no. 1 (2004): 172–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baer, Gabriel. Egyptian Guilds in Modern Times. Jerusalem: Israel Oriental Society, 1964.Google Scholar
Bartel, Ann,.Formal Employee Training Programs and Their Impact on Labor Productivity: Evidence from a Human Resource Survey. NBER Working Paper No. 3026, Cambridge, MA, 1989.Google Scholar
Bartel, Ann. Productivity Gains from the Implementation of Employee Training Programs. Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, 33, no. 4 (1994): 411–25.Google Scholar
Beinin, Joel, and Lockman, Zachary. Workers on the Nile: Nationalism, Communism, Islam, and the Egyptian Working Class, 1882–1954. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1987.Google Scholar
Bhavnani, Rikhil R., and Jha., Saumitra, Forging a Non-Violent Mass Movement: Economic Shocks and Organizational Innovations in India's Struggle for Democracy. Unpublished Manuscript, 2013.Google Scholar
Bishop, John,.The Impact of Previous Training on Productivity and Wages. In Training and the Private Sector: International Comparisons, edited by Lynch, Lisa M., 161–99. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994.Google Scholar
Black, Sandra E., and Lisa, M. Lynch. Human-Capital Investments and Productivity. American Economic Review, 86, no. 2 (1996): 263–67.Google Scholar
Bogart, Dan, and Chaudhary, Latika. Regulation, Ownership, and Costs: A Historical Perspective from Indian Railways. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 4, no. 1 (2012): 2857.Google Scholar
Bogart, Dan, and Chaudhary, Latika. Off the Rails: Is State Ownership Bad for Productivity? Unpublished Manuscript, 2013.Google Scholar
Charmes, Gabriel. Five Months at Cairo and in Lower Egypt. Translated by Conn., William London: Richard Bentley & Son, 1883.Google Scholar
Connor, Walker. Ethnonationalism: The Quest for Understanding. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994.Google Scholar
Courbage, Youssef, and Fargues, Philippe. Christians and Jews under Islam. Translated by Mabro, Judy. London-New York: I. B. Tauris Publishers, 1997.Google Scholar
Dearden, Lorraine, Reed, Howard, and Van Reenen, John. The Impact of Training on Productivity and Wages: Evidence from British Panel Data. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 68, no. 4 (2006): 397421.Google Scholar
Durkheim, Emile. The Division of Labor in Society. Translated by Halls, W. D.. New York: Free Press. (1984) [1893].Google Scholar
Fahmy, Khaled. Mehmed Ali: From Ottoman Governor to Ruler of Egypt. Oxford: One World, 2009.Google Scholar
Fahmy, Moustafa. La Révolution de l'Industrie en Egypte et Ses Conséquences Sociales au 19e Siècle (18001850). Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1954.Google Scholar
Gerschenkron, Alexander. Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective: A Book of Essays. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1962.Google Scholar
Ghazaleh, Pascale. Masters of the Trade: Crafts and Craftspeople in Cairo, 1750–1850. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 1999.Google Scholar
Goldin, Claudia, and Sokoloff, Kenneth. Women, Children, and Industrialization in the Early Republic: Evidence from the Manufacturing Censuses. The Journal of Economic History, 42, no. 4 (1982): 741–74.Google Scholar
Goldin, Claudia, and F, Lawrence. Katz. The Origins of Technology-Skill Complementarity. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 113, no. 3 (1998): 693732.Google Scholar
Heyworth-Dunne, James An Introduction to the History of Education in Modern Egypt. London: Luzac & Co, 1938.Google Scholar
Issawi, Charles,.The Transformation of the Position of the Millets in the Nineteenth Century. In The Arab World's Legacy, authored by Issawi, Charles, 199230. Princeton, NJ: Darwin Press, 1981.Google Scholar
Jha, Saumitra,.Trade, Institutions, and Ethnic Tolerance: Evidence from South Asia. American Political Science Review, 107, no. 4 (2013): 806–32.Google Scholar
Katz, Lawrence F., and Margo, Robert A. Technical Change and the Relative Demand for Skilled Labor: The United States in Historical Perspective. NBER Working Paper No. 18752, Cambridge, MA, January 2013.Google Scholar
List, Friedrich. National System of Political Economy. Translated by Matile, G. A.. Philadelphia: JB Lippincott & Company, 1856 [1841].Google Scholar
Marsot, Afaf Lutfi Al-Sayyid. Egypt in the Reign of Muhammad Ali. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984.Google Scholar
Marx, Karl,.The German Ideology: Part I. In The Marx- Engels Reader, edited by Tucker, R. C., 158165. New York: W. W. Norton, 1978 [1846].Google Scholar
Miguel, Edward,.Tribe or Nation? Nation-Building and Public Goods in Kenya versus Tanzania. World Politics, 56, no. 3 (2004): 328–62.Google Scholar
Newman, Saul,.Does Modernization Breed Ethnic Political Conflict? World Politics, 43, no. 3 (1991): 451–78.Google Scholar
Owen, Roger. The Middle East in the World Economy 18001914. London: I. B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 2002.Google Scholar
Pamuk, Sevket,.Estimating Economic Growth in the Middle East since 1820. The Journal of Economic History, 66, no. 3 (2006): 809–28.Google Scholar
Panza, Laura, and Williamson, Jeffrey G.. Did Muhammad Ali Foster Industrialization in Early 19th Century Egypt? Centre for Economic Policy Research Discussion Paper No. DP9363, 2013.Google Scholar
Raymond, André. Artisans et Commerçants au Caire au XVIIIe Siècle. Damascus: Institut Français de Damas, 1973.Google Scholar
Rogowski, Ronald,.Causes and Varieties of Nationalism: A Rationalist Account. In New Nationalisms of the Developed West, edited by Tiryakian, Edward A. and Rogowski, Ronald, 87108. Boston: Allen & Unwi, 1985.Google Scholar
Rothschild, Joseph. Ethnopolitics: A Conceptual Framework. New York: Columbia University Press, 1981.Google Scholar
Saleh, Mohamed,.A Pre-Colonial Population Brought to Light: Digitization of the Nineteenth Century Egyptian Censuses. Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History 46, no. 1 (2013a): 518.Google Scholar
Saleh, Mohamed. From Kuttabs to Schools: Educational Modernization, Religion, and Human Capital in Twentieth Century Egypt. TSE Working Paper No. 12–366, 2013b.Google Scholar
Sami, Amin. Taqwim Al-Neel (Chronicles of the Nile), Cairo: Dar Al-Kutub, 1928.Google Scholar
Smith, Anthony D. The Ethnic Revival. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981.Google Scholar
Smith, Anthony D.. Nationalism and Modernism. London and New York: Routledge, 2003.Google Scholar
Tagher, Jacques. Christians in Muslim Egypt: A Historical Study of the Relations between Copts and Muslims from 640 to 1922. Altenberge: OrosVerlage, 1998 [1951].Google Scholar
Toledano, Ehud R. Social and Economic Change in the Long Nineteenth Century. In Cambridge History of Egypt 2, edited by Daly, M. W., 254–82. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.Google Scholar
van Leeuwen, Marco H. D., and Maas, Ineke. A Short Note on HISCLASS. In History of Work Information System, 2005. http://historyofwork.iisg.nl/.Google Scholar
Zeitz, Peter,. Trade in Equipment and Capital Quality: Evidence from the Sino-Soviet Split. Unpublished Manuscript, 2011.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Saleh supplementary material

Online Appendices

Download Saleh supplementary material(File)
File 72.6 KB
Supplementary material: PDF

Saleh supplementary material

Online Appendices

Download Saleh supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 10.9 MB