The economic origins of paternalism: reply to Rose, Taylor and Winstanley.

The article presents the author's reply to a commentary on his article about the economic origins of paternalism based on the Lancashire cotton spinning industry in the first half of the nineteenth century. His analysis of labor market operations was based on two observations. He argues that economic origins was not so much about absolute bargaining power, but the relative positions of urban and rural workers. Different labor market conditions in urban and rural regions are said to have affected labor market adjustment.