This question is prompted by the book Papyrus by John Gaudet.
In the article by Nordhaus, W. D., Do real-output and real-wage measures capture reality? The history of lighting suggests not. Cowles Foundation Paper, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University, 1994, Professor Nordhaus calculated the labor cost in labor hours per 1000 lumen hours of domestic lighting.
As it happens, domestic lighting efficiency increased by an average of 3.41% per decade for the period from 1750 BC to 1992.
The question here posed includes the following sub-questions:
1) Are there any comparable studies for the cost of paper, say a sheet of paper 11 inches by 8 and a half inches?
2) If there are no such studies extant, would it be possible to obtain statistics to make such a study?
3) Did the labor cost of paper decrease by 3.41% per decade? Or equivalently, did the cost of manufacturing increase in efficiency by 3.41% per decade?
4) Are there any papers you are aware of that might help with this question?
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