EH.Net Abstracts in Economic History

          EHS Abstract Submission
                    (c) 1996 EH.Net
-----------------------------------------------------------
              Name:  William A. Sundstrom
               Email:  wsundstrom at mailer.scu.edu
         Institution:  Santa Clara University

         Co-author:  None

             Title:  Did the WPA Displace Private Employment?
                      Evidence from the 1940 Census 

  Internet Address
of abstracted work:  Not available on the Internet

           By mail:
                     William A. Sundstrom
                     Department of Economics
                     Santa Clara University
                     Santa Clara, CA  95053

          Language:  English

          Abstract:
   About one-third of the workers usually counted as unemployed
during the late 1930s were actually employed on federal work
relief programs.  Some of these workers might have held regular
(non-relief) jobs in the absence of relief work.  Using data from
the 1940 Census, I show that roughly one-fifth of relief workers
earned higher monthly pay on the WPA than they could have
expected to earn in the private sector.  The presence of large
numbers of similarly qualified unemployed workers, however,
suggests that non-relief jobs were severely rationed, casting
doubt on the view that many relief workers could have found
private jobs had they left relief.

      Bibliography:  William A. Sundstrom, "Did the WPA Displace 
                Private Employment?  Evidence from the 1940 Census," 
                unpublished working paper, Santa Clara University
                (July 1996).

                  Subject:  T
 Geographical Area:  7
      Country/Region:  USA
           Time Period:  8