Cambridge Studies in Modern Economic History

An Economic History of the Silk Industry, 1830-1930, first published in 1997, is an ambitious historical analysis of the development of a major commodity. Dr Federico examines the rapid growth of the world silk industry from the early nineteenth century to the eve of the Great Depression of the 1930s. Silk production grew as a result of Western industrialisation, which in turn brought about increased incomes and thus increased demand for silk products. The author documents the changes in methods of production and the technical progress that enabled the silk industry to cope with this new influx in demand. Dr Federico then discusses the significant changes in the geographical distribution of world output that accompanied this growth. In conclusion, Federico points out that silk did indeed becomes the first example of a Japanese success story on the world market, Italy and China both losing their markets due to Japan's large agricultural supply of raw material (cocoons) and its adroitness in importing and adopting Western technology.