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

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: College of New Jersey; University of California System; University of California Davis; National Bureau of Economic Research; Stellenbosch University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0507
• DOI: 10.1017/S0022050719000779
• 发表日期: 2020
• 页码: 136-174
• 关键词: child labor laws; income; attendance; classroom; outcomes; MARKET

摘要

The boll weevil spread across the South from 1892 to 1922 with devastating effect on cotton cultivation. The resulting shift away from this child labor-intensive crop lowered the opportunity cost of school attendance. We investigate the insect's long-run effect on educational attainment using a sample of adults from the 1940 census linked back to their childhood census records. Both white and black children who were young (ages 4 to 9) when the weevil arrived saw increased educational attainment by 0.24 to 0.36 years. Our results demonstrate the potential for conflict between child labor in agriculture and educational attainment.