@techreport{NBERw16494,
 title = "Productivity Growth and the Regional Dynamics of Antebellum Southern Development",
 author = "Alan L. Olmstead and Paul W. Rhode",
 institution = "National Bureau of Economic Research",
 type = "Working Paper",
 series = "Working Paper Series",
 number = "16494",
 year = "2010",
 month = "October",
 URL = "http://www.nber.org/papers/w16494",
 abstract = {Between 1800 and 1860, the United States became the preeminent world supplier of cotton as output increased sixty-fold.  Technological changes, including the introduction of improved cotton varieties, contributed significantly to this growth.  Measured output per worker in the cotton sector rose four-fold and large regional differences emerged.  By 1840, output per worker in the New South was twice that in the Old South. The economy-wide increase is explained, in equal measure, by growth in output per worker at fixed locations and by the reallocation of labor across regions. These results offer a new view on the dynamics of economic development in antebellum America.},
}