New Deal Agricultural Appropriations: A Political Influence

Jim Couch, Keith Atkinson and William Wells
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Jim Couch: University of North Alabama
Keith Atkinson: Delta State University
William Wells: Merrimack College

Eastern Economic Journal, 1998, vol. 24, issue 2, 137-148

Abstract: This study investigates the allocation of New Deal appropriations to agricultural interests in Alabama's sixty-seven counties during the Great Depression. Conventional wisdom indicates that Roosevelt, through the New Deal, brought assistance to those in need. However, recent literature has identified a political motivation to the pattern of spending that emerged during the economic downturn. The authors develop and estimate a model with data which has only recently become available. The results show that while communities with the highest farm income received larger appropriations as expected, counties that experienced a collapse in farm income during the Great Depression received no special consideration from those officials responsible for distributing New Deal dollars across the state. These results indicate that self-interest was an important motivator in allocating agricultural appropriations in the state of Alabama during the Great Depression.

Keywords: Depression (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E32 N52 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1998
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eej:eeconj:v:24:y:1998:i:2:p:137-148

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