Working Paper: NBER ID: w22483
Authors: Felipe Gonzlez; Guillermo Marshall; Suresh Naidu
Abstract: Slave property rights yielded a source of collateral as well as a coerced labor force. Using data from Dun and Bradstreet linked to the 1860 census and slave schedules in Maryland, we find that slaveowners were more likely to start businesses prior to the uncompensated 1864 emancipation, even conditional on total wealth and human capital, and this advantage disappears after emancipation. We assess a number of potential explanations, and find suggestive evidence that this is due to the superiority of slave wealth as a source of collateral for credit rather than any advantage in production. The collateral dimension of slave property magnifies its importance to historical American economic development.
Keywords: slave wealth; business formation; entrepreneurship; Civil War; Maryland
JEL Codes: N31
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| slave wealth (J47) | business formation (L26) |
| slaveowners (J47) | business formation (L26) |
| abolition of slavery (J47) | business formation among slaveowners (P12) |
| slave wealth (J47) | access to credit (G21) |
| access to credit (G21) | entrepreneurial activities of slaveowners (P12) |
| total wealth and human capital (D29) | business formation (L26) |
| slave wealth (J47) | collateral value (D46) |