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The Farm-Nonfarm Wage Gap in the Antebellum United States: Evidence fromthe 1850 and 1860 Censuses of Social Statistics

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Author Info
Robert A. Margo

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Abstract

Sectoral wage gaps for workers of comparable skill are central to issues in economic development and economic history. This paper presents new archival evidence on the farm-nonfarm wage gap for the United States just prior to the American Civil War. Measured at the level of local labor markets, the wage gaps are small and not very persistent over time. Aggregated to reflect the geographic distribution of farm and nonfarm labor, the gaps are larger than previously thought. I also show that investment in manufacturing capital between 1850 and 1860 responded to labor market inefficiencies indicated by the gaps: counties with relatively low farm wages experienced above-average investment.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Historical Working Papers with number 0072.

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Date of creation: Aug 1995
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberhi:0072

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N31 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Income, and Wealth - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913

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  1. Robert A. Margo, 1990. "Wages and Prices During the Antebellum Period: A Survey and New Evidence," NBER Historical Working Papers 0019, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Robert A. Margo, 1998. "Labor Market Integration Before the Civil War," NBER Working Papers 6643, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Hatton, Timothy J. & Williamson, Jeffrey G., 1991. "Wage gaps between farm and city: Michigan in the 1890s," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 381-408, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Maddison, Angus, 1987. "Growth and Slowdown in Advanced Capitalist Economies: Techniques of Quantitative Assessment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 25(2), pages 649-98, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Thomas Weiss, 1989. "Economic Growth Before 1860: Revised Conjectures," NBER Historical Working Papers 0007, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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