Jim F. Couch (University of North Alabama) Keith E. Atkinson (Delta State University) William H. Wells (Merrimack College)
Abstract
This study investigates the allocation of New Deal appropriations to agricultural interests in Alabama's sixty-seven counties during the Great Depression. Conventional wisdom indicates that Roosevelt, through the New Deal, brought assistance to those in need. However, recent literature has identified a political motivation to the pattern of spending that emerged during the economic downturn. The authors develop and estimate a model with data which has only recently become available. The results show that while communities with the highest farm income received larger appropriations as expected, counties that experienced a collapse in farm income during the Great Depression received no special consideration from those officials responsible for distributing New Deal dollars across the state. These results indicate that self-interest was an important motivator in allocating agricultural appropriations in the state of Alabama during the Great Depression.
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Volume (Year): 24 (1998) Issue (Month): 2 (Spring) Pages: 137-148 Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML
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Find related papers by JEL classification: Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy N52 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913- E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
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