INDUSTRIALIZATION AND THE EARNINGS GAP - REGIONAL AND SECTORAL TESTS OF THE GOLDIN-SOKOLOFF HYPOTHESIS

Using farm- and firm-level samples from the Eighth (1860) Census, we test two propositions from the relative productivity hypothesis: (1) The ratio of female-to-male wages increased in agriculture as well as manufacturing during early industrialization, and (2) the ratio increased more rapidly in the North than in the South. We offer a model for imputing the relative value of female labor in agriculture and manufacturing. Our results indicate that during the antebellum period the wage ratio did increase in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors in the North, and overall it increased more rapidly in the North than in the South. © 1993 Academic Press. All rights reserved.