Change in the plantation system: American South, 1910-1945

Many questions have not been answered about the tenant plantations in the twentieth century. This paper uses county level data from special plantation censuses taken in 1910 and 1945 to examine changes in the geographic distribution of plantations and how production was organized on them. Although the percentage of land in tenant plantations went down in the South during this period, it increased in some areas and decreased in others. In the areas where it increased, cotton production also increased. This result suggests that in some circumstances plantations had an advantage over small farms.     

The structure of the South African labor market, 1970–83

The structure of the labor market in the Republic of South Africa over 1970–83 is strongly linked to the Natives Land Act of 1913, No. 27, which dispossessed blacks of their legal right to land ownership. One of the intended results of this act was to increase the supply of cheap black labor to South Africa’s predominantly white-owned industry. Thus, over the 1970–83 period, as before, blacks occupied the lowest ends of the educational, occupational, employment, and income distributions among all races in South Africa. On the other hand, the white minority lived at a standard equal to that of Americans and Scandanavians. However, even within these constraints, the demographics of South Africa are such that over the next decade or more, and even in the absence of major political upheaval, blacks may comprise an increasing percentage of the workforce and occupy positions which have been mainly occupied by whites to date.     

Relative wage, child labor, and human capital

This paper analyses child labor and children's human capitalformation in response to the changes of the relative wage/productivitybetween child labor and adult labor. It implies that becausechildren's labor market participation raises the financial resourcesspent on their education, a small increase in child labor mayenhance children's human capital. It also shows that in a pooreconomy, the laws that punish or partially deter child labormay result in children working more and accumulating less humancapital.     

Agricultural labor productivity in the Lower South, 1720-1800

The primary factor determining the rate of economic growth in 18th-century British America was the pace of improvement in agricultural productivity. This paper examines agricultural productivity advance in the Lower South between 1720 and 1800. We extend and refine previous measures based on export performance, and offer new productivity measures based on the real value of slave labor, and total agricultural production in the region. Despite differences in their short-term behavior, all of the indices show that long-run productivity improvements were modest at best, and may have been negative. Surprisingly, taking account of production for domestic consumption yields the most favorable long-term performance.     

Household schooling and child labor decisions in rural Bangladesh

Using empirical methods, this paper examines household schooling and child labor decisions in rural Bangladesh. The results suggest the following: poverty and low parental education are associated with lower schooling and greater child labor; asset-owning households are more likely to have children combine child labor with schooling; households choose the same activity for all children within the household, regardless of gender; there is a weak association between direct costs and household decisions; finally, higher child wages encourage households to practice child labor.     

Participation of blacks and immigrants in the American Merchant class, 1890–1910: Some demographic relations

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries many persons of minority ethnic status perceived that business enterprise offered an important opportunity for joining the mainstream of American economic life. To become a merchant was to acquire a measure of personal independence and a chance for higher rewards than those earned by industrial employees. To establish a business required the assumption of substantial risk, for the rate of failure among incipient enterprises was always great. Many would willingly bear the risk. But how many could survive, and where was the probability of success highest? The answers depended in part on the demographic features of the markets they undertook to serve.This article seeks, through an analysis of quantitative evidence, to answer some questions about the relation between demographic patterns and the extent of participation in retail merchandizing. Did urbanization promote such participation? Was the North or the South more stimulating to the merchant class? To what extent did participation in merchandizing differ among blacks, immigrants, and native whites? By employing quantitative evidence and multiple regression analysis, this paper offers more precise answers than traditional methods of historical inquiry would permit. But at the same time it raises questions that can only be answered by more traditional methods of study.     

Steam power, establishment size, and labor productivity growth in nineteenth century American manufacturing

We use establishment-level data from the 1850–1880 censuses of manufacturing to study the relationships among establishment size, steam power use, and labor productivity. Large establishments, measured here by employment, were much more likely to use steam power than smaller establishments. By 1880, slightly more than half of all manufacturing workers were employed in establishments using steam power, compared with 17 percent in 1850 and we show that, after controlling for various establishment characteristics, steam-powered establishments had higher labor productivity than establishments using other sources of power. Moreover, this productivity differential was increasing in establishment size.     

Urban and rural differences in primary school attendance: an empirical study for Tanzania

There is evidence of growing disparities in primary schoolingrates between urban and rural areas in Tanzania. This paperpresents empirical estimates for the determinants of primaryschool attendance in Tanzania for the early 1990s, and providesa comparison of attendance rates between the urban and ruralareas for a number of different age groups. All the estimatedmodels provide adequate fits to the data and many of the estimatedcoefficients are consistent with prior expectations. A statisticallysignificant differential in primary school attendance ratesbetween urban and rural areas is detected for the age groupsexamined. On the basis of our estimates, a large part of thedifferential is attributable to differences in observed characteristicswith an important role exerted by urban-rural differences inthe measure used to proxy household income.     

New deal or no deal in the Cotton South: The effect of the AAA on the agricultural labor structure

The Agricultural Adjustment Act has often been held responsible for the rapid reduction of share tenants and sharecroppers (laborers paid shares of the crop) during the 1930s. However, this conclusion has come with limited empirical backing. We shed new light on the consequences of this New Deal policy by empirically testing the role that the AAA cotton reduction program had on the displacement of share tenants and sharecroppers in the Cotton South. The results suggest that the AAA played a significant role in the displacement of black and white sharecroppers and black managing tenants even though it was a violation of AAA contracts for landlords to displace these workers.     

A household production model of paid labor, household work and child care

In this paper we use data on time allocation of women to estimate the value of market and non-market work. Four time use categories are distinguished: paid work, houshold work, care for children, and leisure. The estimation results show that the value of non-market production (household production and child care) is substantial and exceeds that of market production (paid work).     

Poverty,shocks and school disruption episodes among adolescents in KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa

While conventional explanations of drop-out and grade repetition acknowledge the role of socioeconomic factors, this paper uses data collected in a KwaZulu-Natal study of adolescents to investigate the explicit contribution of poverty and shocks to school disruption episodes. The asset-vulnerability framework developed by Moser and others is used to develop a poverty-based theory of school disruption. Evidence against such a theory is also put forward. The results indicate that the poverty-based theory accounts in part for school disruption. Poverty is predictive of school disruption, female adolescents are particularly vulnerable to drop-out episodes, and adolescent pregnancy emerges as an important influence. However, household shocks do not seem to predict school disruption. Programmes that offer incentives for school attendance and improving school quality are put forward as policy options for South Africa.     

中、日、韩在美国市场上的竞争性分析

本文应用显性比较优势指数(RCA)和斯皮尔曼等级系数测量了1999到2003年中、日、韩三国在美国市场上的竞争情况及其变化,得出中、日、韩三国在美国市场上存在竞争,而且中国和日本、中国和韩国的竞争有不断加剧的趋势,日本和韩国的竞争性虽有不断下降的趋势,但总体竞争性还是比较强。     

Returns to school resources in the Jim Crow South

We estimate returns to school resources in the Jim Crow era, as measured by young males' 1940 wage earnings, occupational status, and cognitive aptitude scores. Results point to a 16 cent annual return on each $1 invested in public schools. To the question of whether some school inputs mattered more than others, we find comparable 25–32 cent returns per dollar invested in extended school years, teacher salaries, and smaller classes. School spending and inputs had much more bearing on labor market outcomes than aptitude scores. We document diminishing returns to school expenditures, which, in combination with segregated schools, resulted in higher returns to expenditures in black schools relative to white.     

Income distribution,economic structure and employment in South Africa

This paper discusses the impact of a redistribution of current income from the White to the Black population on the distribution of sectoral output, and total employment by means of a semi‐closed input‐output model.

The results show that a redistribution of current income towards Black households — which no doubt will have positive social and political repercussions — has a non‐negative effect on GDP and a definite positive effect on the performance of sectors with a high private consumption expenditure component, as well as on total employment.