Health, human capital, and African-American migration before 1910

Trevon D. Logan

Explorations in Economic History, 2009, vol. 46, issue 2, pages 169-185

Abstract: Using both IPUMS and the Colored Troops Sample of the Civil War Union Army Data, I estimate the effects of literacy and health on the migration propensities of African-Americans from 1870 to 1910. I find that literacy and health shocks were strong predictors of migration and the stock of health was not. There were differential selection propensities based on slave status--former slaves were less likely to migrate given a specific health shock than free blacks. Counterfactuals suggest that as much as 35% of the difference in the mobility patterns of former slaves and free blacks is explained by differences in their human capital, and more than 20% of that difference is due to health alone. Overall, the selection effect of literacy on migration is reduced by one-tenth to one-third once health is controlled for. The low levels of human capital accumulation and rates of mobility for African-Americans after the Civil War are partly explained by the poor health status of slaves and their immediate descendants.

Keywords: Health; Migration; Civil; war; African-Americans (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009

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Working Paper: Health, Human Capital, and African American Migration Before 1910 (2008)
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:exehis:v:46:y:2009:i:2:p:169-185

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