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Biological Innovation and Productivity Growth in the Antebellum Cotton Economy

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Alan L. Olmstead
Paul W. Rhode

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Abstract

The Cliometrics literature on slave efficiency has generally focused on static questions. We take a decidedly more dynamic approach. Drawing on the records of 142 plantations with 509 crops years, we show that the average daily cotton picking rate increased about four-fold between 1801 and 1862. We argue that the development and diffusion of new cotton varieties were the primary sources of the increased efficiency. These finding have broad implications for understanding the South's preeminence in the world cotton market, the pace of westward expansion, and the importance of indigenous technological innovation.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 14142.

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Date of creation: Jun 2008
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14142

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J43 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Agricultural Labor Markets
N11 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Growth and Fluctuations - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
N5 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries
O3 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change

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  1. Wright, Gavin, 1979. "The Efficiency of Slavery: Another Interpretation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 69(1), pages 219-26, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Passell, Peter & Wright, Gavin, 1972. "The Effects of Pre-Civil War Territorial Expansion on the Price of Slaves," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(6), pages 1188-1202, Nov.-Dec.. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Fogel, Robert W & Engerman, Stanley L, 1977. "Explaining the Relative Efficiency of Slave Agriculture in the Antebellum South," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(3), pages 275-96, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Alan L. Olmstead & Paul W. Rhode, 2002. "The Red Queen and the Hard Reds: Productivity Growth in American Wheat, 1800-1940," NBER Working Papers 8863, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Metzer, Jacob, 1975. "Rational management, modern business practices, and economies of scale in the ante-bellum southern plantations," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 123-150, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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