Ferrara, Andreas (2019) The Socioeconomic Effects of Wars. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

Preview

PDF WRAP_Theses_Ferrera_2019.pdf - Submitted Version - Requires a PDF viewer. Download (10Mb) | Preview

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

This thesis consists of three essays at the intersection of the fields of economic history and labor economics. Using the case of the United States during the two World Wars and the Civil War, the thesis shows the unintended consequences of wars on the socioeconomic outcomes of those who stay behind especially through the channel of war deaths which disrupt labor markets, family structures, or social attitudes, among others. Chapter one studies how deaths among semi-skilled whites during World War II opened employment opportunities for African Americans from which they had been barred in the past. These improved opportunities in the labor market not led to better economic outcomes for blacks, such as wages, education, or house values, but also led to better black-white social relations such as friendships or attitudes towards integration. Chapter two uses linked Census data and information on soldiers from the U.S. CivilWar to study the effects of losing a father on the long-term effects of children. While the negative results are expected, this is one of the first studies to follow children over such a long period of time and it also provides an identification strategy based on allocation of soldiers to battles that were unexpectedly costly. The final chapter estimates the effect of discrimination against Germans in the U.S. during World War I on economic growth. Counties with higher anti-German sentiment during the war years discriminated away their German-born population at the cost of reduced economic growth. This particularly affected the manufacturing sector, a high-productivity sector with a disproportionally large share of German workers.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Economic history, World War, 1914-1918 -- United States, World War, 1939-1945 -- United States, United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Economic aspects
Official Date:	April 2019
Dates:	Date Event April 2019 Published
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Economics
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Becker, Sascha O.
Format of File:	pdf
Extent:	ix, 88, 50, 44, 8 leaves: illustrations, charts, maps
Language:	eng

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item

Downloads