Entrepreneurial Efficiency in the British Coal Industry between the Wars: A Comment.

This article discusses the paper "Entrepreneurial Efficiency in the British Coal Industry Between the Wars," by N.K. Buxton, published in the previous issue of the journal "Economic History Review." The purpose is to show that whilst Buxton has correctly identified what has come to be regarded as "the greatest shortcoming" of British colliery owners, he has, at the same time, demonstrated a complete misunderstanding of the nature of the issues involved in reorganization. By his failure to define his terms rigorously Buxton has confused the issues that were at stake. Instead he embarked upon an analysis of the relationship between size and efficiency of mines. He begins by comparing the findings of the Royal Commission on the size of colliery undertakings with information derived from the Ministry of Fuel and Power Statistical Digest from 1938 relating to the size of mines. Colliery owners were not criticized for the small size of their mines, but for their failure to create large undertakings by means of colliery amalgamations. Although amalgamation of undertakings provided the basis for the interwar rationalization program, an important, but subsidiary, part of this program was the elimination of surplus capacity. The essential point to note here is that it was never suggested that surplus capacity should be eliminated solely by the closure of small mines.