Abstract
This chapter describes and analyses the introduction of the most important innovation since 1945 in the British coalmining industry — the Anderton Shearer Loader (ASL). The first section describes briefly the background to mechanisation in coal-mining; the second analyses the impact of the diffusion of the ASL on increased labour productivity in the 1950s and 1960s. The analyses are followed by assessments of the contributions of both the National Coal Board (NCB) and the machinery suppliers to the development and improvement of the ASL. The chapter ends with some policy conclusions about the coal industry’s productivity, the machinery suppliers in international markets, and — more generally — the mechanical engineering industry.
Much of this chapter is based on data from Townsend (1976).
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References
Ministry of Fuel and Power, Coal Mining, (the Reid Report), Report of Technical Advisory Committee, Ministry of Fuel and Power, Cmd 6610 (London: HMSO, Mar. 1945).
L. Nabseth and G. F. Ray, The Diffusion of New Industrial Process: An International Study (London: Cambridge University Press, 1974).
M. V. Posner, Fuel Policy: A Study in Applied Economics (London: Macmillan, 1973).
T. W. K. Scott, ‘Diffusion of new technology in the British and West German carpet industries: The case of the tufting process’, DPhil. thesis presented at University of Sussex 1975 (unpublished).
J. Townsend, Innovation in Coal Mining Machinery: ‘The Anderton Shearer Loader — the Role of the NCB and the Supply Industry in its Development’. Science Policy Research Unit, Occasional Paper 3 (University of Sussex: SPRU, Dec. 1976).
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© 1980 Science Policy Research Unit
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Townsend, J. (1980). Innovation in Coal-mining Machinery: the Case of the Anderton Shearer Loader. In: Pavitt, K. (eds) Technical Innovation and British Economic Performance. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-04561-7_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-04561-7_8
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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