A Review Essay on Howard Bodenhorn's The Color Factor: The Economics of African-American Well-Being in the Nineteenth-Century South

Allison Shertzer

Journal of Economic Literature, 2018, vol. 56, issue 1, 206-16

Abstract: In The Color Factor: The Economics of African-American Well-Being in the Nineteenth-Century South, Howard Bodenhorn investigates the origins, health, and socioeconomic performance of mixed-race people in the antebellum Southern United States. The central conclusion of the book is that mixed-race people fared better than darker-skinned blacks on nearly every dimension; however, they were still disadvantaged relative to whites. This review essay discusses the book's valuable data contributions and relates Bodenhorn's conclusions to the broader literature on colorism. I close with implications for future research on the economics of skin color.

JEL-codes: I12 I31 J15 J31 J71 N31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
Note: DOI: 10.1257/jel.20161375
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