Full Citation

Title: Slave Escape, Prices, and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2016

ISBN:

ISSN:

DOI:

NSFID:

PMCID:

PMID:

Abstract: This paper examines the spatial relationship among slave prices, escape, and slave owners property rights using the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 as a natural experiment. The act reinforced slave owners property rights, but its effect diminished with distance to the North. Estimates suggest that prices in Northern slave states increased by up to 35 percent relative to Southern states because of the act. The papers findings are robust to changes in sample restrictions, spatial composition effects, and placebo tests on the acts implementation date. The contention that the act had an effect on escape risk is supported by a reduction in rewards offered and the frequency of advertisements for runaways observed in newspaper advertisements from the time.

Url: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/689619

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Lennon, Conor

Periodical (Full): The Journal of Law and Economics

Issue: 3

Volume: 59

Pages: 670-695

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Other, Race and Ethnicity

Countries: