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World War II and Black Economic Progress

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  • Andreas Ferrara

Abstract

During the 1940s, a substantial share of southern Black men moved from low-skilled to much better paying semiskilled jobs. Using newly digitized military data, I show that counties with higher World War II casualty rates among semiskilled White soldiers saw an increase in the share of semiskilled Black workers. These deaths opened new employment opportunities for Black southerners and, together with learning effects by employers, can explain 35% of the occupational upgrading at mid-century. I provide evidence that the casualty-induced labor shortages reduced racial barriers to entry, leading to a positive selection of Black workers into semiskilled employment.

Suggested Citation

  • Andreas Ferrara, 2022. "World War II and Black Economic Progress," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 40(4), pages 1053-1091.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlabec:doi:10.1086/716921
    DOI: 10.1086/716921
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    Cited by:

    1. Collins, William J. & Zimran, Ariell, 2025. "World War II service and the GI Bill: New evidence on selection and veterans’ outcomes from linked census records," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    2. Victor Gay, 2017. "The Legacy of the Missing Men: The Long-Run Impact of World War I on Female Labor Force Participation," 2017 Papers pga905, Job Market Papers.
    3. Barrera, Sergio E. & Ferrara, Andreas & Fishback, Price V. & Heggeness, Misty L., 2025. "The impact of World War II Army service on income and mobility in the 1960s by ethnoracial group," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    4. Daniel Aaronson & Mark Borgschulte & Sunny Liu & Bhashkar Mazumder, 2024. "Schooling and Political Activism in the Early Civil Rights Era," Working Paper Series WP 2024-06, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    5. Kukic, Leonard, 2019. "The last Yugoslavs: ethnic diversity, national identity and civil war," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 102323, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Karger, Ezra & Wray, Anthony, 2024. "The Black–white lifetime earnings gap," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    7. Alexander J. Field, 2023. "The decline of US manufacturing productivity between 1941 and 1948," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(4), pages 1163-1190, November.
    8. Patrick Bayer & Kerwin Kofi Charles & Ellora Derenoncourt, 2025. "Racial Inequality in the Labor Market," Working Papers 343, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    9. Nancy Qian & Marco Tabellini, 2021. "Racial Discrimination and the Social Contract: Evidence from U.S. Army Enlistment during WWII," NBER Working Papers 29482, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Andreas Ferrara & Price Fishback, 2024. "Discrimination, Migration, and Economic Outcomes: Evidence from World War I," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 106(5), pages 1201-1219, September.
    11. Lleras-Muney, Adriana & Morgan, Tommy & Price, Joseph & Wygal, William, 2025. "The effect of World War II spending and army service on the lifespan of the Black population," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    12. Gianluca Russo, 2018. "World War I and the Rise of Fascism in Italy," Boston University - Department of Economics - The Institute for Economic Development Working Papers Series dp-341, Boston University - Department of Economics, revised May 2020.
    13. Victor Gay, 2023. "The Intergenerational Transmission of World War I on Female Labour," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 133(654), pages 2303-2333.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J - Labor and Demographic Economics

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