Why did the Industrial Revolution begin in the UK and not elsewhere? I have seen several theories, including colonialism, natural resources, Protestantism, capitalism and the rule of law. Is there any historical consensus on this?

by ajbrown141
AlviseFalier

No, there really isn't a complete consensus; there's even an entire group of people out there that believe it was a pure accident. But there is one very popular theory out there: Institutional Development Theory, which I take after.

The general conclusion drawn from the theory that the small european states developed laws and institutions fostering innovation and entrepreneurship. Sparsely populated and fiercely competitive, European states had no choice but to maximize efficiency, culminating in industrialization. If you'd like to get into some examples, u/restricteddata and I wrote two answers in a thread earlier today answering a very similar question as to why a country like Egypt didn't industrialize. I'm also sure there is an AMA or feature thread on this, but I can't seem to find it anywhere.

In any case, within that framework, you can then get into the specifics of the British Isles: historically less populous than the rest of Europe, there was a significant upward pressure on wages. This means that English workers could enjoy a higher standard of living, while English employers were always on the lookout to keep their costs down. There are also a number of other factors though, like the presence of coal, England's seafaring heritage facilitating the foundation of colonies where raw materials could be obtained, and the presence of a relatively weak monarchy that had to rely on a consensus-based governmental system, fostering consistent and fair rule of law. Different authors will stress different variables, but I don't think it's accurate to emphasize one over the other. All culminated to make the industrial revolution happen.

Entire books on the topic have been written, and this post could go on for ages. Suffice it to say, you could look at:

S. Broadberry, "British Economic Growth 1270-1870"

M.W. Kirby, “Institutional rigidities and economic decline: Reflections on the British experience” (for completion's sake)

And more general texts like:

S. Broadberry and K. O’Rourke (eds.), "The Cambridge Economic History of Europe"

J.L. Rosenthal, R.B. Wong, "Before and beyond divergence. The politics of economic change in China and Europe"

A. Greif, "Institutions and the path to the modern economy"