Water energy as a factor of industrialization in Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century (based on the materials of industrial censuses)

One of the main issues in the course of industrialization is the provision of dynamically developing industrial production with energy sources. Despite the rapid spread of new types of engines in Russia in the late XIX – early XX centuries, water as an energy source continued to be actively used in industrial production. The research, the results of which are presented in the article, based on the published materials of the first (1900) and second (1908) industrial censuses showed that at the beginning of the twentieth century the share of water engines in the structure of the total power in industry as a whole not only did not decrease, but, on the contrary, increased. Groups of industries and provinces distinguished by the active use of water energy in industry have been identified. Analysis of statistical sources allows us to conclude that industrial enterprises are moving from water wheels to water turbines that exceed them in power. On the basis of industry data, the interrelations between the specific values of the use of water engines in the overall structure of the energy capacity of enterprises and their main production indicators (net profit, cost structure, etc.) are revealed. On the basis of correlation analysis, the hypothesis of a higher level of labor concentration at enterprises and in industries that have retained a significant proportion of water engines in the structure of their energy base has been confirmed.

industrialization of Russia, energy base, water resources, water engines, steam engines, industrial censuses, labor productivity, wage, labor concentration, correlation analysis