Recessions, Mortality, and Migration Bias: Evidence from the Lancashire Cotton Famine

Replication package (data and code) for "Recessions, Mortality, and Migration Bias: Evidence from the Lancashire Cotton Famine," by Arthi, Beach, and Hanlon.

Examined the health effects of the Lancashire Cotton Famine, a sharp downturn in Britain's cotton textile manufacturing regions that was induced by the U.S. Civil War. Migration was an important response to this downturn, but as we document, migration also introduces a number of empirical challenges, which we overcome by introducing a new methodological approach. Results indicate that the recession increased mortality among households employed in the cotton textile industry. Documented localized spillover effects on households providing non-tradeable services in the areas affected by the recession.