Skip to main content

Interwar Unemployment in the United States: Evidence from the 1940 Census Sample

  • Chapter
Interwar Unemployment in International Perspective

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASID,volume 43))

Abstract

Unemployment in the 1930s is a central issue in macroeconomics, and it is the persistence of high unemployment that makes the Great Depression unique in American history. Why were rates of unemployment so high for so long? How can one reconcile persistent unemployment with the rise in real wages throughout much of the decade?

I am grateful to Martin Baily, Barry Eichengreen, Stanley Engerman, David Feldman, Claudia Goldin, Tim Hatton, Takao Kato, Tom Michl, Mark Rockel, Charles Trout, John Wallis, and participants at the Conference on Interwar Unemployment in International Perspective for helpful comments. Errors are my own.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Amemiya, T. (1981), “Qualitative Response Models: A Survey”, Journal of Economic Literature 4, pp. 1483–536 (December).

    Google Scholar 

  • Baily, M.N. (1983), “The Labor Market in the 1930s”, in J. Tobin (ed.), Macroeconomics, Prices and Quantities: Essays in Honor of Arthur Okun, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakke, E.W. (1940), The Unemployed Worker, New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernanke, B. (1986), “Employment, Hours, and Earnings in the Depression: An Analysis of Eight Manufacturing Industries”, American Economic Review 76, pp. 82–109 (March).

    Google Scholar 

  • Blanchard, O. and Summers, L. (1986), “Hysteresis and the European Unemployment Problem”, Cambridge, Mass.: National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper no. 1950.

    Google Scholar 

  • Darby, M. (1976), “Three and a Half Million US Employees Have Been Mislaid: Or, An Explanation of Unemployment, 1934–1941”, Journal of Political Economy 84, pp. 1–16 (February).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feldstein, M. (1976), “Temporary Layoffs in the Theory of Unemployment”, Journal of Political Economy 84, pp. 937–58 (October).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howard, D. (1943), The WPA and Federal Relief Policy, New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, R. (1983), Procedural History of the 1940 Census of Population and Housing, Madison: Center for Demography and Ecology, University of Wisconsin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz, L. (1986), “Layoffs, Recall, and the Duration of Unemployment”, Cambridge, Mass.: National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper no. 1825.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kesselman, J. and Savin, N.E. (1978), “Three and a Half Million Workers Were Never Lost”, Economic Inquiry 16, pp. 186–191 (April).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keyssar, A. (1986), Out of Work: The First Century of Unemployment in Massachusetts, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, R. and Rapping, L. (1972), “Unemployment in the Great Depression: Is There a Full Explanation?”, Journal of Political Economy 80, pp. 186–191 (January/February).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rao, C. (1973), Linear Statistical Inference and Its Applications, New York: John Wiley.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Salant, S. (1977), “Search Theory and Duration Data: A Theory of Sorts”, Quarterly Journal of Economics 91, pp. 39–58 (January).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sinclair, P. (1987), Unemployment: Economic Theory and Evidence, Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Topel, R. (1983), “On Layoffs and Unemployment Insurance”, American Economic Review 83, pp. 541–559 (September).

    Google Scholar 

  • US Bureau of the Census (1983), Census of Population, 1940: Public Use Micro-data Sample, Washington, DC: US Bureau of the Census.

    Google Scholar 

  • US Federal Works Agency (1946), Final Report of the WPA Program, 1935–43, Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallis, J. (1986), “Employment in the Great Depression”, mimeo, College Park, University of Maryland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woytinsky, W.S. (1943), Three Aspects of Labor Dynamics, Washington, DC: Social Science Research Council.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1988 Kluwer Academic Publishers

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Margo, R. (1988). Interwar Unemployment in the United States: Evidence from the 1940 Census Sample. In: Eichengreen, B., Hatton, T.J. (eds) Interwar Unemployment in International Perspective. NATO ASI Series, vol 43. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2796-4_9

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2796-4_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7758-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-2796-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics