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The Decline of Apprenticeship in North America: Evidence from Monetreal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2012

Gillian Hamilton
Gillian Hamilton
Affiliation:
Gillian Hamilton is Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of Toronto, 150 St. George St., Toronto, ON, M5S 3G7. Phone: (416) 978-3070. E-mail: HAMILTNG@chass.utoronto.ca
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Abstract

Apprenticeship was, at one time, the foremost means of acquiring skill in North America and Europe. Today it is rare in North America for reasons that are not well understood. I draw on the population of apprentice contracts signed in Montreal over a 50-year period to pinpoint the start of the decline and explore its origins. I find that the decline began around 1815. During its first phase masters responded to greater difficulties in contract enforcement. A direct effect of the rise of larger establishments on the market for apprentices appears later, in the late 1820s and 1830s.

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The Journal of Economic History , Volume 60 , Issue 3 , September 2000 , pp. 627 - 664
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 2000

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