Forging a New Identity: The Costs and Benefits of Diversity in Civil War Combat Units for Black Slaves and Freemen
Abstract
By the end of the Civil War 186,017 black men had served in the Union Army, roughly three-quarters of whom were former slaves. Because most black soldiers were illiterate farm workers, the war exposed them to a much broader world. Their wartime experience depended upon their peers, their commanding officers, and where their regiment toured and affected their later life outcomes. In the short run the combat units benefited from company homogeneity, which built social capital and minimized shirking, but in the long run men s human capital and acquisition of information was best improved by serving in heterogeneous companies.Download Info
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Article provided by Cambridge University Press in its journal The Journal of Economic History.
Volume (Year): 66 (2006)
Issue (Month): 04 (December)
Pages: 936-962
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Keywords:Other versions of this item:
- Dora L. Costa & Matthew E. Kahn, 2004. "Forging a New Identity: The Costs and Benefits of Diversity in Civil War Combat Units for Black Slaves and Freemen," NBER Working Papers 11013, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
- M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executive Compensation
- Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Social and Economic Stratification
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Blog mentions
As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:- Should Your Freshman College Roommate Be Your Clone?
by Matthew E. Kahn in Environmental and Urban Economics on 2010-08-23 00:51:00
Cited by:
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