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A History of Mechanization in the Cotton South: The Institutional Hypothesis

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  • Warren C. Whatley

Abstract

The Cotton South has always lagged behind the rest of American agriculture in the use and development of large-scale machinery. This paper formalizes an idea often found in the historical literature in loosely specified form which argues that the institutional structure of the southern plantation economy caused this technological inertia. In particular, the Institutional Hypothesis argues that the annual labor contracts used to secure plantation labor discouraged partial mechanization and inventive activity by redirecting the impact of higher labor costs away from the development and adoption of labor saving machinery and toward the adoption of small unmechanizable tenancies. This hypothesis is modeled, and supporting evidence is presented. Its larger implications are also discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Warren C. Whatley, 1985. "A History of Mechanization in the Cotton South: The Institutional Hypothesis," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 100(4), pages 1191-1215.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:qjecon:v:100:y:1985:i:4:p:1191-1215.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.2307/1885680
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    Cited by:

    1. Paul A. David, "undated". "Zvi Griliches and the Economics of Technology Diffusion: Adoption of Innovations, Investment Lags, and Productivity Growth," Discussion Papers 09-016, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, revised Mar 2010.
    2. Richard Hornbeck & Suresh Naidu, 2014. "When the Levee Breaks: Black Migration and Economic Development in the American South," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(3), pages 963-990, March.
    3. Yang, Dongkyu, 2024. "Time to Accumulate: The Great Migration and the Rise of the American South," SocArXiv nt6kg, Center for Open Science.
    4. Mitchener, Kris James & McLean, Ian W, 2003. "The Productivity of US States since 1880," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 73-114, March.
    5. Dempster, Gregory M. & Isaacs, Justin P., 2014. "Structural change in the U.S. economy: 1850–1900," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 112-123.
    6. Richard Pomfret, 2000. "State-Directed Diffusion of Technology: The Mechanization of Cotton-Farming in Soviet Central Asia," School of Economics and Public Policy Working Papers 2000-03, University of Adelaide, School of Economics and Public Policy.
    7. Suresh Naidu, 2010. "Recruitment Restrictions and Labor Markets: Evidence from the Postbellum U.S. South," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 28(2), pages 413-445, April.
    8. Carter, Michael R. & Kalfayan, John, 1987. "An Economic Model of Agrarian Structure in Latin America," Staff Papers 200457, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    9. Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson, 2008. "Persistence of Power, Elites, and Institutions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(1), pages 267-293, March.
    10. Alvaro Calderon & Vasiliki Fouka & Marco Tabellini, 2021. "Racial Diversity and Racial Policy Preferences: The Great Migration and Civil Rights," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 2133, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    11. Calderon, Alvaro & Fouka, Vasiliki & Tabellini, Marco, 2021. "Racial Diversity and Racial Policy Preferences: The Great Migration and Civil Rights," IZA Discussion Papers 14488, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Rodolfo E. Manuelli & Ananth Seshadri, 2014. "Frictionless Technology Diffusion: The Case of Tractors," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(4), pages 1368-1391, April.
    13. Daniel P. Gross, 2018. "Scale versus scope in the diffusion of new technology: evidence from the farm tractor," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 49(2), pages 427-452, June.
    14. Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson, 2008. "The Persistence and Change of Institutions in the Americas," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 75(2), pages 281-299, August.
    15. Suresh Naidu, 2008. "Recruitment Restrictions and labor markets: evidence from the post-bellum U.S. south," Working Papers 1114, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    16. Price V. Fishback & John Joseph Wallis, 2012. "What Was New About the New Deal?," NBER Working Papers 18271, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Tabellini, Marco & Calderon, Alvaro & Fouka, Vasiliki, 2021. "Racial Diversity and Racial Policy Preferences: The Great Migration and Civil Rights," CEPR Discussion Papers 14318, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    18. Lew, Byron, 2000. "The Diffusion of Tractors on the Canadian Prairies: The Threshold Model and the Problem of Uncertainty," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 189-216, April.
    19. Calderon, Alvaro & Fouka, Vasiliki & Tabellini, Marco, 2021. "Racial Diversity, Electoral Preferences, and the Supply of Policy: The Great Migration and Civil Rights," IZA Discussion Papers 14312, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Suresh Naidu, 2008. "Recruitment Restrictions and labor markets: evidence from the post-bellum U.S. south," Working Papers 1114, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    21. Billy Dickens, 1998. "Black unemployment: Part of unskilled unemployment," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 25(4), pages 91-94, June.

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