Working Paper: NBER ID: w14281
Authors: Charles Calomiris; Jonathan Pritchett
Abstract: We investigate the determinants of slave family discounts, using data from the New Orleans slave market. We find large price discounts for families which cannot be explained by scale effects, childcare costs, legal restrictions, or transport costs. Because family members cared for each other, sellers found it advantageous to keep some families together. Evidence from the manifests of ships carrying slaves to be sold in New Orleans provides direct evidence for our model of selectivity bias in explaining slave family discounts. Children likely to have been shipped with their mothers are 1-2 inches shorter than other children.
Keywords: slave market; family ties; selectivity bias; pricing; New Orleans
JEL Codes: N3; N31
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| selectivity bias (C24) | pricing of slave families (J12) |
| family ties (J12) | pricing of slave families (J12) |
| family groups (C92) | discounts (L42) |
| group composition (C92) | discounts (L42) |
| children under 13 (J13) | discounts (L42) |
| older individuals over 50 (J14) | discounts (L42) |
| both parents and at least one child (J12) | discounts (L42) |