Published Quarterly Journal of Economics Online 29 Nov 2025 Published Jan 2026Enlightenment Ideals and Belief in Progress in the Run-up to the Industrial Revolution: A Textual AnalysisAli Almelhem · Murat Iyigun · Austin Kennedy · Jared RubinThis paper tests Joel Mokyr's claim that Britain's industrialization was preceded and enabled by a cultural shift — specifically, that Enlightenment ideals produced a "progress-oriented" view of …