Long-run Impacts of Agricultural Shocks on Educational Attainment: Evidence from the Boll Weevil (Data)
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Richard B. Baker, The College of New Jersey; John Blanchette, University of California, Davis; Katherine Eriksson, University of California, Davis
Version: View help for Version V1
| Name | File Type | Size | Last Modified |
|---|---|---|---|
| data | 12/02/2019 05:30:PM | ||
| do | 12/02/2019 05:30:PM | ||
| figures | 12/02/2019 05:31:PM | ||
| tables | 12/02/2019 05:31:PM |
Project Citation:
Project Description
Abstract:
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.
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