Data and code for "Labor Supply and Directed Technical Change: Evidence from the Termination of the Bracero Program in 1964"

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Shmuel San, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
master_bracero.py	text/x-python	675 bytes	08/30/2021 11:20:PM
prepare_patent_data.py	text/x-python	3.9 KB	08/30/2021 11:20:PM
prepare_patent_text.py	text/x-python	4 KB	11/01/2021 11:50:PM
prepare_similarity_table.py	text/x-python	1.3 KB	08/30/2021 11:20:PM

Project Description

Summary: This paper studies the impact of labor supply on the creation of new technology, exploiting a large exogenous shock to the US agricultural labor supply caused by the termination of the Bracero agreements between the US and Mexico at the end of 1964. Using a text-search algorithm allocating patents to crops, I show a negative labor-supply shock induced a sharp increase in innovation in technologies related to more affected crops. The effect is stronger for technology related to labor-intensive production tasks. Farm-value dynamics indicate that, despite the positive technology reaction, the policy change was undesirable for farm owners.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: Directed Technical Change; Labor Supply; Induced Innovation; Automation; Immigration Restrictions; Bracero

JEL Classification:
      F22 International Migration
      J08 Labor Economics Policies
      O31 Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
      O33 Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

Geographic Coverage: United States

Methodology

Unit(s) of Observation: Year and crop

Geographic Unit: County

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Published Versions

V1 [2022-12-08]

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DDI 2.5

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