NDLI: Nutrition and signaling in slave markets: a new look at a puzzle within the antebellum puzzle

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Nutrition and signaling in slave markets: a new look at a puzzle within the antebellum puzzle

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Craig, Lee A. Hammond, Robert G.
Copyright Year	2012
Abstract	Between 1800 and 1860, mean adult stature of (U.S.) white males declined by nearly an inch, while real output grew substantially, creating the “Antebellum Puzzle.” In contrast, male slaves did not experience a comparable decrease in heights. To explain this puzzle within a puzzle, we show that the benefit of the marginal nutrient exceeded the cost throughout the antebellum era. As a result, it paid for slave owners to engage in the supplemental feeding of slaves, which increased their stature. While this is consistent with a productivity explanation of increased stature, we also argue that informational asymmetries played an important role in the market for slaves. Slave owners had an incentive to signal that their slaves were high-productivity laborers by supplying them with additional food, which positively impacted slave heights. We provide evidence that, distinct from a productivity explanation, signaling mattered in the trend of slave heights.
Starting Page	189
Ending Page	206
Page Count	18
File Format	PDF
ISSN	18632505
Journal	Cliometrica
Volume Number	7
Issue Number	2
e-ISSN	18632513
Language	English
Publisher	Springer-Verlag
Publisher Date	2012-10-30
Publisher Place	Berlin, Heidelberg
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Asymmetric information Signaling Nutrition Stature Slavery Economic Theory History Econometrics Methodology and the History of Economic Thought
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	History Economics and Econometrics

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