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Title: Lynchings, labour and cotton in the US South

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2015

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Abstract: In this paper, I examine lynchings of African Americans in the US South from 1882-1930, and find evidence that lynchings prevented black workers from fully participating in the labour market. Using the fact that world cotton prices are exogenous from a single countys perspective, I find that cotton price shocks strongly predict lynchings. All this is indicative that greater numbers of lynchings served, at least in part, as a way of controlling black workers. Using these observations as a guide, I claim that lynchings had labour market effects that benefited white workers. During years of low cotton prices, wages are low. When whites lynch blacks, this causes other blacks to migrate out of a county, thus reducing labour supply and increasing wages. I show in my data that lynchings predict greater black out-migration, and higher state-level agricultural wages. A one standard deviation increase in lynchings within a county leads to 6.5-8 per cent more black out-migration, and a 1.2 per cent increase in state-level wages. To understand these results, I analyse a simple model in which white workers can lynch blacks during low cotton price shocks, reducing labour supply and increasing wages.

Url: http://www.ehs.org.uk/dotAsset/fad24ab2-e591-4366-8544-666a0c3e966e.pdf#page=75

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Authors: Christian, Cornelius

Publisher: University of Oxford

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Race and Ethnicity

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