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

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.

Using Digitized Newspapers to Address Measurement Error in Historical Data

“…This fertility transition and the decline in the value of child labor in agriculture have also been linked to increased educational attainment (Baker 2015;Baker, 9 The damage corresponds to $3.2-$4.8 billion in 2021 dollars. Blanchette, and Eriksson 2020). Another unintended consequence of the reduction in cotton production was increased food production.…”

“…Also, Black Southerners tended to marry later after the pest arrived for the same reasons (Bloome, Feigenbaum, and Muller 2017). This fertility transition and the decline in the value of child labor in agriculture have also been linked to increased educational attainment (Baker 2015; Baker, Blanchette, and Eriksson 2020). Another unintended consequence of the reduction in cotton production was increased food production.…”

Summaries of Doctoral Dissertations

“…In his second paper, Janas studies how adolescents educational choices were affected by the Great Depression. There is a sizeable literature on the elasticity of schooling choices with respect to youth labor market opportunities (e.g., Atkin 2016; Baker, Blanchette, and Eriksson 2020). Nevertheless, Janas highlights another mechanism at play during the Depression: the sharp drop in school funding temporarily reduced school quality, potentially lowering the incentive to stay in the classroom.…”

Reproducing Inequality? Elite-Biased Policy and the Rural–urban Educational Gap in Colombia and Its Regions, 1920-2019

“…Bértola and Ocampo (2013) indeed suggest that in Latin America, countries with higher GDPs had more resources including the supply of education, which may explain the achievements of Argentina or Uruguay as opposed to the precarious rural educational development of Colombia. Other factors contributing to lower rural performance are geographical isolation and elements of demand such as rural poverty, high opportunity costs or the failure of rural parents to educate their children (Cataño 1984;Ramírez and Salazar 2010;Baker et al 2020).…”

“…Other factors contributing to lower rural performance are geographical isolation and elements of demand such as rural poverty, high opportunity costs or the failure of rural parents to educate their children (Cataño 1984; Ramírez and Salazar 2010; Baker et al . 2020).…”