The Impact of the Civil War on Capital Intensity and Labor Productivity in Southern Manufacturing

William Hutchinson and Robert Margo

No 10886, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: The Civil War resulted in a substantial divergence in the regional structure of factor prices. In particular, wages fell in the South relative to the non-South, but interest rates and other measures of the costs of capital increased. Using archival data for manufacturing establishments, we show that capital-output and capital-labor ratios in southern manufacturing declined relative to non-southern manufacturing after the War, precisely in the direction implied by the regional shifts in factor prices. Labor productivity in Southern manufacturing also declined, but this decline is explained by the reduction in capital intensity.

JEL-codes: N61 N91 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his
Note: DAE
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published as Hutchinson, William K. & Margo, Robert A., 2006. "The impact of the Civil War on capital intensity and labor productivity in southern manufacturing," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 689-704, October.

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Journal Article: The impact of the Civil War on capital intensity and labor productivity in southern manufacturing (2006)
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