Revisiting the profitability of slavery: slave hiring rates and the return on investments in slaves in the antebellum U.S. South

• This paper revisits the scholarly debate on the profitability of historical slavery. The paper studies the case of the antebellum U.S. South, using slave hire rates as a proxy for the net rent on investments in slavery. The paper employs more empirical data and a more advanced methodological approach to the issue than what has been used in previous research. The results suggest that the profitability of slavery was much higher than what most previous research has shown, around 14-15 per cent per year on average after adjusting for mortality risk, but that the return also fluctuated much over time. It was on average more profitable for Southern capital owners to invest in slaves than investing in many alternatives such as financial instruments or manufacturing activities in the U.S. South, as long as slavery remained a legal institution.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Ekonomisk historia (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Economic History (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Profitability

slave hire rates

economics

capitalism

slavery

United States

antebellum

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)