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Labor coercion and the accumulation of human capital

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  • Bobonis, Gustavo J.
  • Morrow, Peter M.

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of labor coercion on human capital accumulation. We use micro data from Puerto Rico, where unskilled laborers were forced to work for landowners during 1849–1874. Using variation in municipality-level suitability for coffee cultivation and international coffee prices, we estimate the response of schooling to exogenous increases in relative demand for unskilled labor in regimes with and without forced labor. During the coercive regime, increased coffee prices had no effect on individuals' literacy rates in coffee growing regions. Following the abolition of forced labor in 1874, similar changes in coffee prices reduced literacy rates by 12%, consistent with a diminished skill premium in the free labor market regime relative to the coercive period.

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  • Bobonis, Gustavo J. & Morrow, Peter M., 2014. "Labor coercion and the accumulation of human capital," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 32-53.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:108:y:2014:i:c:p:32-53
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2014.01.004
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    2. Graziella Bertocchi, 2015. "Slavery, racial inequality, and education," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 122-122, February.
    3. Graziella Bertocchi, 2016. "The legacies of slavery in and out of Africa," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-19, December.
    4. Bertocchi, Graziella & Dimico, Arcangelo, 2020. "Bitter Sugar: Slavery and the Black Family," GLO Discussion Paper Series 564, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    5. Buggle, Johannes C. & Nafziger, Steven, 2018. "The slow road from serfdom: Labor coercion and long-run development in the former Russian Empire," BOFIT Discussion Papers 22/2018, Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    6. Bertocchi, Graziella & Dimico, Arcangelo, 2014. "Slavery, education, and inequality," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 197-209.
    7. Ali, Daniel Ayalew & Deininger, Klaus, 2021. "Does title increase large farm productivity? Institutional determinants of large land-based investments' performance in Zambia," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315328, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    8. Quamrul H. Ashraf & Francesco Cinnirella & Oded Galor & Boris Gershman & Erik Hornung, 2017. "Capital-Skill Complementarity and the Emergence of Labor Emancipation," Working Papers 2017-1, Brown University, Department of Economics.
    9. Francesco Caselli & Guy Michaels, 2013. "Do Oil Windfalls Improve Living Standards? Evidence from Brazil," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 208-238, January.
    10. Anastasia Litina & Èric Roca Fernández, 2020. "Celestial enlightenment: eclipses, curiosity and economic development among pre-modern ethnic groups [Working Papers / Documents de travail]," Working Papers halshs-03044843, HAL.
    11. Ali, Daniel Ayalew & Deininger, Klaus, 2022. "Institutional determinants of large land-based investments’ performance in Zambia: Does title enhance productivity and structural transformation?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    12. Christian Dippel & Avner Greif & Daniel Trefler, 2020. "Outside Options, Coercion, and Wages: Removing the Sugar Coating," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 130(630), pages 1678-1714.
    13. Graziella Bertocchi, 2016. "The Legacies of Slavery in and out of Africa," Department of Economics 0096, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    14. Saleh, Mohamed, 2022. "Trade, Slavery, and State Coercion of Labor: Egypt During the First Globalization Era," CEPR Discussion Papers 14542, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Danzer, Alexander M. & Grundke, Robert, 2020. "Export price shocks and rural labor markets: The role of labor market distortions," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    16. Esteban Méndez & Diana Van Patten, 2022. "Multinationals, Monopsony, and Local Development: Evidence From the United Fruit Company," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(6), pages 2685-2721, November.
    17. Jensen, Peter Sandholt & Radu, Cristina Victoria & Severgnini, Battista & Sharp, Paul, 2018. "The introduction of serfdom and labor markets," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 393, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    18. Quamrul H. Ashraf & Francesco Cinnirella & Oded Galor & Boris Gershman & Erik Hornung, 2017. "Capital-Skill Complementarity and the Emergence of Labor Emancipation," CESifo Working Paper Series 6423, CESifo.
    19. Esposito, Elena, 2015. "Side Effects of Immunities: the African Slave Trade," Economics Working Papers MWP2015/09, European University Institute.
    20. Galan, Juan Sebastian, 2011. "The Long Trace of Inequality: Evidence from Cundinamarca, Colombia," Documentos CEDE Series 107398, Universidad de Los Andes, Economics Department.
    21. Danzer, Alexander M. & Grundke, Robert, 2016. "Coerced Labor in the Cotton Sector: How Global Commodity Prices (Don't) Transmit to the Poor," IZA Discussion Papers 9971, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    22. Graziella Bertocchi & Arcangelo Dimico, 2020. "Bitter Sugar: Slavery and the Black Family," Department of Economics 0172, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    23. Nunn, Nathan & Trefler, Daniel, 2014. "Domestic Institutions as a Source of Comparative Advantage," Handbook of International Economics, in: Gopinath, G. & Helpman, . & Rogoff, K. (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 263-315, Elsevier.
    24. Geloso, Vincent & Kufenko, Vadim & Arsenault-Morin, Alex P., 2023. "The lesser shades of labor coercion: The impact of seigneurial tenure in nineteenth-century Quebec," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    25. Marein, Brian, 2022. "Colonial Roads and Regional Inequality," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labor coercion; Human capital; Historical development;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • N36 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Latin America; Caribbean

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