Boll Weevil Impact on Educational Attainment from 1940 Census

This replication package supports research on the long-run effects of the boll weevil agricultural shock on educational attainment. It uses a sample of adults from the 1940 U.S. census linked to their childhood records to analyze changes in years of schooling. The dataset examines outcomes for white and black children aged 4 to 9 when the pest arrived.

Use Cases

• Analyze the relationship between the timing of the boll weevil's arrival and subsequent educational attainment for linked census individuals.
• Compare changes in educational attainment between white and black children following the agricultural shock.
• Investigate the long-run effect of reduced child labor in cotton cultivation on years of schooling using census-linked records.

Strengths

• Data is derived from the authoritative 1940 U.S. census, providing a large historical sample.
• Research focuses on a specific, well-documented 30-year agricultural shock (boll weevil spread from 1892 to 1922).
• Analysis is based on individuals linked across census records, enabling longitudinal study.

Limitations

• Specific dataset size, column structure, and file formats are unknown from the provided input.
• The sample is restricted to individuals present in both childhood and 1940 census records, which may introduce selection bias.
• Data is historical and may not generalize to modern educational or agricultural contexts.

Provenance

Source

ICPSR Harvested Dataverse

Collection Method

Sample of adults from the 1940 U.S. census linked back to their childhood census records.

Time Range

Primary data from 1940 census, analyzing impacts of an event from 1892 to 1922.

Freshness

The archival dataset was last updated on 2026-02-23.

Geography

The Southern United States, affected by the boll weevil.