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Free and Slave Labor in the Antebellum South: Perfect Substitutes or Different Inputs?

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  • Field, Elizabeth B

Abstract

The substitutability between free and slave labor is examined, and the permissibility of aggregating the two in to a single labor variab le is investigated, using a translog production function. Slaves on large cotton farms worked in gangs; free labor was not observed to do so. Despite this, previous research has aggregated free and slave labor, and employed functional forms imposing strong restrictions on substitution. Estimation of the translog function shows that simple additive aggregation is not acceptable; on large farms, slaves and free labor were complements, while on small, nongang farms, they were substitutes. Copyright 1988 by MIT Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Field, Elizabeth B, 1988. "Free and Slave Labor in the Antebellum South: Perfect Substitutes or Different Inputs?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 70(4), pages 654-659, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:70:y:1988:i:4:p:654-59
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    Cited by:

    1. Lagerlöf, Nils-Petter, 2016. "Born free," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 1-10.
    2. Daniel S. Hamermesh, 1991. "Labor Demand: What Do We Know? What Don't We Know?," NBER Working Papers 3890, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Links, Calumet & Green, Erik & Fourie, Johan, 2018. "Was Slavery a Flexible Form of Labour? Division of Labour and Location Specific Skills on the Eastern Cape Frontier," African Economic History Working Paper 42/2018, African Economic History Network.
    4. Li, Hongbin & Ma, Yueyuan & Meng, Lingsheng & Qiao, Xue & Shi, Xinzheng, 2017. "Skill complementarities and returns to higher education: Evidence from college enrollment expansion in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 10-26.

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