This study examines how electrification affected the economic performance of the Japanese coal mining industry in the 1900s. Using difference-in-differences estimation, we find that electrification considerably improved labor productivity and increased the number of workers, but had statistically zero effects on miners’ wages and caused a significant decline in the labor income share. We explain this phenomenon by using the “superstar firm” hypothesis, which provides a consistent explanation of the recent declines in labor income share in the US economy.

中文翻译：

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电气化对煤炭工业生产和分配的影响：来自 1900 年代日本的证据

本研究探讨电气化如何影响 1900 年代日本煤矿业的经济表现。使用差异估计，我们发现电气化显着提高了劳动生产率并增加了工人数量，但在统计上对矿工工资的影响为零，并导致劳动收入份额显着下降。我们通过使用“超级明星公司”假设来解释这一现象，该假设为近期美国经济中劳动收入份额的下降提供了一致的解释。