Agricultural Productivity Growth During the Decade of the Civil War

Lee Craig () and Thomas Weiss

The Journal of Economic History, 1993, vol. 53, issue 3, 527-548

Abstract: New evidence based on census data indicates that output per agricultural worker grew faster between 1860 and 1870 than during any other decade of the nineteenth century. Although this evidence seems to support the traditional view that the Civil War was a catalyst for an increasingly productive agricultural sector, we contend that this apparent robust performance results from a measurement problem that afflicts census-based labor force series. An alternative estimate of labor force performance during the decade reveals the importance of increased labor inputs of women and children, in numbers, effort, and—especially—time.

Date: 1993
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