The Aftermath of the Bracero: A Study of the Economic Impact on the Agricultural Hired Labor Market of Michigan from the Termination of….
Author: Mason, John Dancer
Date Published: 1969
As a result of the termination of Public Law 78 in 1964, Michigan agriculture failed to receive Mexican national workers (braceros) in the following year: the first year since the early 1940s that braceros were not used in that state. In 1964, the foreign workers were used primarily in the pickle industry of Michigan, constituting roughly 80% of the peak employment in pickles. Before 1965, the pickle industry argued that termination of the bracero program would seriously affect the industry, because domestic migrants simply would not pick pickles (stoop labor). Consequently, increased wage offers would not elicit a very large supply response from domestic migrants, and the end result would be acreage declines and other adverse adjustments. In addition, several previous studies of the seasonal labor market for Michigan pickles, tended to support the claims of the industry. The thesis examines the stoop labor hypothesis that the supply resource of domestic migrants to increased wages would be inelastic, by examining three questions: What was the wage adjustment for all seasonal workers in Michigan agriculture following 1964? What was the supply response of domestics to wage adjustments in the pickle industry? To what extent did acreage declines and capital substitution occur in the Michigan pickle industry as a result of the termination of the bracero program?
Date Published: 1969
As a result of the termination of Public Law 78 in 1964, Michigan agriculture failed to receive Mexican national workers (braceros) in the following year: the first year since the early 1940s that braceros were not used in that state. In 1964, the foreign workers were used primarily in the pickle industry of Michigan, constituting roughly 80% of the peak employment in pickles. Before 1965, the pickle industry argued that termination of the bracero program would seriously affect the industry, because domestic migrants simply would not pick pickles (stoop labor). Consequently, increased wage offers would not elicit a very large supply response from domestic migrants, and the end result would be acreage declines and other adverse adjustments. In addition, several previous studies of the seasonal labor market for Michigan pickles, tended to support the claims of the industry. The thesis examines the stoop labor hypothesis that the supply resource of domestic migrants to increased wages would be inelastic, by examining three questions: What was the wage adjustment for all seasonal workers in Michigan agriculture following 1964? What was the supply response of domestics to wage adjustments in the pickle industry? To what extent did acreage declines and capital substitution occur in the Michigan pickle industry as a result of the termination of the bracero program?
