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The Long-Run Effect of Public Libraries on Children: Evidence from the Early 1900s

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  • Karger, Ezra

Abstract

Between 1890 and 1921, Andrew Carnegie funded the construction of 1,618 public libraries in cities and towns across the United States. I link these library construction grants to census data and measure the effect of childhood public library access on adult outcomes. Library construction grants increased children's educational attainment by 0.10 years, did not affect wage income, and increased non-wage income by 4%. These income effects are driven by occupational choice. Access to a public library caused children to shift away from occupations like manual labor, factory-work, and mining into safer and more prestigious occupations like farm-ownership, clerical, and technical jobs. I show that compulsory schooling laws had parallel effects on children, increasing educational attainment, non-wage income and occupational prestige without affecting wage income. Economists often rely solely on wage income to measure the returns to education. But public libraries and compulsory schooling laws in the early 1900s increased educational attainment and had positive effects on children's adult labor market outcomes without affecting wage income.

Suggested Citation

  • Karger, Ezra, 2021. "The Long-Run Effect of Public Libraries on Children: Evidence from the Early 1900s," SocArXiv e8k7p, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:e8k7p
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/e8k7p
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Amir B. Ferreira Neto & Jennifer Nowicki & Shishir Shakya, 2025. "Do public libraries help mitigate crime? Evidence from Kansas City, MO," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 49(1), pages 141-161, March.
    2. Buonanno, Paolo & Cinnirella, Francesco & Harka, Elona & Puca, Marcello, 2024. "Books Go Public: The Consequences of the Expropriation of Monastic Libraries on Innovation," CEPR Discussion Papers 18926, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Gregory Gilpin & Ezra Karger & Peter Nencka, 2024. "The Returns to Public Library Investment," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 16(2), pages 78-109, May.

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