The long reach of cotton in the US South: Tenant farming, mechanization, and low-skill manufacturing

This paper examines the long-run impact of cotton agriculture on local development in the US South, focusing on a novel aspect of structural change. Exploiting climate-based variation in cotton production, I show that cotton specialization in the late 19th century had a negative impact on local development that lasts through 2010. This negative relationship, however, only became evident in the second half of the 20th century. I argue that the...