David F. Weiman

The Labor Market Consequences of Incarceration

Rapid growth in the incarceration rate over the past two decades has made prison time a routine event in the life course of young, economically disadvantaged Black and Hispanic men. Although incarceration may now have large effects on economic inequality, only a few studies systematically examine the labor market experiences of ex-offenders. We review the mechanisms that plausibly link incarceration to employment and earnings and discuss the challenges of causal inference for a highly self-selected sample of criminal offenders. There is little consensus about the labor market effects of a variety of justice system sanctions, but there is consistent evidence for the negative effects of prison time on earnings, particularly among older or white-collar offenders. The labor market effects of incarceration are not yet well understood, but prior research suggests several promising avenues for future work.

Farmers and the Market in Antebellum America: A View from the Georgia Upcountry

The Upcountry of the Lower South was located on the periphery of the antebellum cotton economy, but some of its subregions were integrated into the market system in the 1850s. An analysis of sample counties in the Georgia Upcountry demonstrates that the spread of market production into the western half of the region depended on local development which created opportunities for diversified market production and increased household wealth through capital gains on improvements. The absence of market development in the eastern half of the region, in contrast, limited the wealth of farm households, reinforcing their economic isolation.

The Economic Emancipation of the Non-Slaveholding Class: Upcountry Farmers in the Georgia Cotton Economy

The transformation of the Cotton South after the Civil War involved distinct regional developments. Regional analysis of crop production in Reconstruction Georgia, for example, identifies different patterns of specialization in cotton in the Cotton Belt and Upcountry counties. It also reveals an overlooked aspect of Reconstruction, the integration of Upcountry farmers into the cotton economy. The spread of cotton culture into the Upcountry followed the construction of an internal marketing and transportation system in Georgia in the 1870s which was related to and was part of the formation of a national market in the postbellum United States.

Urban Growth on the Periphery of the Antebellum Cotton Belt: Atlanta, 1847–1860

Based on the mercantile model of urban growth, I analyze the formative development of Atlanta during the antebellum period. Located at the intersection of three railroads, Atlantas early growth and economic structure reflected its nodal position in the transport system. Subsequent railroad construction, however, eroded its initial locational advantage, while creating the opportunity for its emergence as a regional metropolis. This transformation was delayed until after the Civil War because of the marginal political and economic position of Atlanta and the Upcountry region, as a whole, within the state.

Envy, wealth, and class hierarchies

Abstract A persion i is said to not envy another person j if he likes his own bundle of goods as well as he would like js bundle. This paper explores the social structure defined by the non-envy relation, and relates it to the social structure defined by market values of bundles, or wealth.

Historical Perspectives on Competition and Interconnection Between Local Exchange Companies: The United States, 1894–1914

Innovations in communications technology and state and federal regulations are currently dismantling the last vestiges of the Bell monopoly. Cellular service, for example, may soon afford a competitive alternative to the traditional voice and data communications services, carried along the wire plant of local exchange companies. At the same time, state and federal agencies are requiring local companies to open their networks to competitors, initially those providing access to interexchange carriers but eventually to companies offering local service as well.