Employment conditions of blacks in the coal industry, 1900 to 1930

Thesis/Dissertation · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1983

OSTI ID:5458646

Fishback, P V.M.

Economic historians recently have analyzed black economic welfare mostly in agriculture. The thesis contributes to knowledge of black welfare in nonagricultural employment by analyzing their status in bituminous-coal mining, an industry in which black employment rose throughout the handloading era ending in 1930. Employmen conditions of blacks are compared with those of native whites and immigrants. Using a model of Schumpeterian competition in an environment of racial hostility, the study analyzes the multiple facets of employment packages, as well as differences in the individuals' initial endowments of wealth and skills, acquisition of human capital, and mobility. Discrimination is found to have been a minor factor in the West Virginia coal industry. Piece-rate wages, about which information was relatively easy to gather, were the same for all ethnic groups. The evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that blacks did not receive unequal treatment via assignments in the mine that affected their safety. Lack of managment positions for blacks was the primary form of job segregation.

• OSTI ID: 5458646
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
015000* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Economic
Industrial
& Business Aspects
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290200 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Economics & Sociology
294001 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Coal
BLACK AMERICANS
COAL INDUSTRY
EMPLOYMENT
FEDERAL REGION III
HUMAN POPULATIONS
INDUSTRY
MINORITY GROUPS
NORTH AMERICA
POPULATIONS
USA
WEST VIRGINIA