When the Levee Breaks: Black Migration and Economic Development in the American South

Richard Hornbeck and Suresh Naidu

American Economic Review, 2014, vol. 104, issue 3, 963-90

Abstract: In the American South, post-bellum economic development may have been restricted in part by white landowners' access to low-wage black labor. This paper examines the impact of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 on black out-migration and subsequent agricultural development. Flooded counties experienced an immediate and persistent out-migration of black population. Over time, landowners in flooded counties modernized agricultural production and increased its capital intensity relative to landowners in nearby similar non-flooded counties. Landowners resisted black out-migration, however, benefiting from the status quo system of labor-intensive agricultural production.

JEL-codes: J15 J43 N32 N52 N92 Q54 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.104.3.963
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (188)

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Working Paper: When the Levee Breaks: Black Migration and Economic Development in the American South (2012)
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