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Long-run Impacts of Agricultural Shocks on Educational Attainment: Evidence from the Boll Weevil

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  • Richard B. Baker
  • John Blanchette
  • Katherine Eriksson

Abstract

The boll weevil spread across the Southern United States from 1892 to 1922 having a devastating impact on cotton cultivation. The resulting shift away from this child labor–intensive crop lowered the opportunity cost of attending school, and thus the pest increased school enrollment and attendance. We investigate the insect’s long run affect on educational attainment using a sample of adults in 1940 linked back to themselves in childhood in the county in which they were likely educated. Both whites and blacks who were young (ages 4 to 9) when the boll weevil arrived saw increased educational attainment by 0.25 to 0.35 years. These findings are not driven by concurrent shocks and are not sensitive to linking method or sample selection. Our results demonstrate the potential for conflict between child labor in agriculture and educational attainment.

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  • Richard B. Baker & John Blanchette & Katherine Eriksson, 2018. "Long-run Impacts of Agricultural Shocks on Educational Attainment: Evidence from the Boll Weevil," NBER Working Papers 25400, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25400
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    Cited by:

    1. Kammas, Pantelis & Sakalis, Argyris & Sarantides, Vassilis, 2021. "Pudding, plague and education: trade and human capital formation in an agrarian economy," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 112206, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Abu-Qarn, Aamer & Lichtman-Sadot, Shirlee, 2019. "Connecting Disadvantaged Communities to Work and Higher Education Opportunities: Evidence from Public Transportation Penetration to Arab Towns in Israel," IZA Discussion Papers 12824, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Philipp Ager & Benedikt Herz & Markus Brueckner, 2020. "Structural Change and the Fertility Transition," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 102(4), pages 806-822, October.
    4. Martey, Edward & Etwire, Prince M. & Mockshell, Jonathan & Armah, Ralph & Akorsikumah, Eli, 2023. "Ecological shocks and children’s school attendance and farm work in Ghana," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    5. Le, Kien & Nguyen, My, 2022. "Desert locust swarms and child health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    6. Muller, Christopher, 2019. "The Political Economy of Incarceration in the U.S. South, 1910-1925. Working Paper #105-19," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt0758z6m3, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    7. Conte, Bruno & Piemontese, Lavinia & Tapsoba, Augustin, 2023. "The power of markets: Impact of desert locust invasions on child health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    8. James J. Feigenbaum & Soumyajit Mazumder & Cory B. Smith, 2020. "When Coercive Economies Fail: The Political Economy of the US South After the Boll Weevil," NBER Working Papers 27161, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Albertus, Michael & Espinoza, Mauricio & Fort, Ricardo, 2020. "Land reform and human capital development: Evidence from Peru," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    10. Muller, Christopher & Schrage, Daniel, 2019. "The Political Economy of Incarceration in the Cotton South, 1910-1925," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt7nb8p8bx, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    11. Aamer Abu‐Qarn & Shirlee Lichtman‐Sadot, 2022. "The Trade‐Off Between Work and Education: Evidence from Public Transportation Penetration to Arab Towns in Israel," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(1), pages 193-225, January.

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    JEL classification:

    • N32 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products

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