Native American Economic History

Transcription

1 Native American Economic History U.S. Economic History Econ 4524 Dustin Frye

2 Connecting Native American Economic Development & History According to the 2000 Census, For those 25 and older, 33.1% have less than a high school education, compared to 19.6% nation wide The poverty rate is 25.7%, compared to 12.4% nation wide Median earnings of Native Americans are 22% lower than the national average. Native American life expectancy is 5 years less than the national average. Deaths rates are significantly higher in several areas: Alcoholism 514% Diabetes 177% Before we can understand how to fully address these issues, it s important to understand why and how these areas developed like they did.

3 Features of Native American Reservations Tribal Organization & Sovereignty Legal Differences Casinos Different Institutions Agriculture and Resource Dependence Typically rural areas Water rights Mining, Fishing Agriculture

4 Land Allotment Timing During the Dawes Act

5 General Allotment Act of 1887 Divided reservation land into parcels and assigned each tribal member a lot Initially a 25 year trust before receiving title Excess land made available for public purchase Proceeds placed in a government trust Executive branch designated reservations open for allotment Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 ends the Allotment Era Trust land frozen

6 Dawes Timing Allotment timing was instrumental in forming the property rights structure on reservations today Early allotment dates led to more land leaving trust status Later allotment dates resulted in more remaining in trust status Results in a mosaic of land tenures on reservations Fee-Simple, Individual Trust, Tribal Trust & Federal Trust

7 Dawes Today This land tenure structure is still found on reservations today Anderson & Lueck (1992) Land tenure types have different agricultural productivities Individual Trust is 30-40% less productive than Fee-Simple Tribal Trust is 85-90% less productive than Fee-Simple

8 Data and Empirics County Level Census Data 1880, 1890, 1900 & 1910 Allotment and Baseline Reservation Information from the Bureau of Indian Affairs Hazard Model with local farming, demographic and reservation characteristics and regional farming and demographic characteristics Which characteristics are associated with motivating allotment timing?

9 Reservation Locations

10 Hazard Models I estimate Hazard Models to exploit variation in the timing of allotment Analysis of the length of time until failure The hazard rate at a particular time is the rate at which a duration of a particular event ends, conditional on having lasted until that time. The parameters indicate whether or not the characteristics of interest affected the risk or timing of allotment.

11 Survival Functions Kaplan-Meier survival estimate analysis time 95% CI Survivor function

12 Survival Functions Kaplan-Meier survival estimates analysis time areaoffice = Aberdeen areaoffice = Billings areaoffice = Sacramento areaoffice = Portland areaoffice = Misc. Eastern areaoffice = Andarko & Muskogee areaoffice = Minneapolis areaoffice = Gallup areaoffice = Phoenix

13 Preliminary Results Demographic,and,Agricultural,Factors,that,Influence,Allotment,Timing Exponential Reservation0County (1) (2) (3) (4) Population0Density 0.216*** *** *** (0.0683) (0.165) (0.198) Share0of0Whites ** *** *** (0.972) (0.668) (0.729) Share0of0Improved0Acreage ** (0.206) (0.346) Acres0of0Farmland0per0Sq0Mi 0.987*** 1.425*** (0.173) (0.293) Original0Reservation0Size 0.228*** 0.339*** 0.399*** (0.0623) (0.0768) (0.0855) Farm0Value0per0Acre 1.733*** 1.423*** (0.301) (0.547) Year0Reservation0Established *** *** *** ( ) ( ) ( ) Neighboring0County Population0Density 0.893*** (0.141) (0.309) Share0of0Whites 3.265* 9.689** (1.962) (4.104) Share0of0Improved0Acreage 2.325*** *** (0.319) (0.456) Acres0of0Farmland0per0Sq0Mi *** (0.109) (0.348) Farm0Value0per0Acre *** (0.170) (0.573) Observations Positive and Negative coefficients indicate whether it increases or decreases the hazard of allotment or the likelihood of allotment

14 Preliminary Results Demographic,and,Agricultural,Factors,that,Influence,Allotment,Timing Exponential Reservation0County (1) (2) (3) (4) Population0Density 0.216*** *** *** (0.0683) (0.165) (0.198) Share0of0Whites ** *** *** (0.972) (0.668) (0.729) Share0of0Improved0Acreage ** (0.206) (0.346) Acres0of0Farmland0per0Sq0Mi 0.987*** 1.425*** (0.173) (0.293) Original0Reservation0Size 0.228*** 0.339*** 0.399*** (0.0623) (0.0768) (0.0855) Farm0Value0per0Acre 1.733*** 1.423*** (0.301) (0.547) Year0Reservation0Established *** *** *** ( ) ( ) ( ) Neighboring0County Population0Density 0.893*** (0.141) (0.309) Share0of0Whites 3.265* 9.689** (1.962) (4.104) Share0of0Improved0Acreage 2.325*** *** (0.319) (0.456) Acres0of0Farmland0per0Sq0Mi *** (0.109) (0.348) Farm0Value0per0Acre *** (0.170) (0.573) Observations Positive and Negative coefficients indicate whether it increases or decreases the hazard of allotment or the likelihood of allotment

15 Result Summary Agricultural variables, like farm value per acre and the share of farm land in a county seem to favor earlier allotment timing. Some of the demographic variables suggest that political organization was important. Initial reservation characteristics suggests larger reservations and younger reservations led to earlier allotment dates.

16 Leasing, Law and Land Tenure: Understanding the Impact of the Long- Term Leasing Act of 1955

17 Review of Native American Land Tenure Reservation land is divided into four-types Fee-Simple Individual Trust Tribal Trust Federal Trust

18 Paper Overview Use a new reservation level panel dataset Examine national and regional trends in land tenure Explore how the Indian Long-Term Leasing Act (LTLA) of 1955 changed the flow of land between tenure types Significant changes to the growth rates of individual trust land and fee-simple land Test for differential impacts of the LTLA by allotment dates Suggests that heirship may be a major mechanism through which the LTLA is impacting land holding behavior

19 Reservation Map

20 Shares of Native American Land Tenures 1939 to Year Share of Indiv. Trust Share of Federal Trust Share of Tribal Trust Share of Fee-Simple Verticle line represents the passage of the Long-Term Leasing Act in Sources: See Data Appendix

21 Heirship With each subsequent generation the fraction of ownership for any single individual falls exponentially. Particularly problematic for individual trust land Organization costs Leasing individual trust land has higher future costs As a result, marginal owners choose to sell now

22 Indian Long-Term Leasing Act of 1955 All new leases and renewals on individual or tribal trust land require BIA approval Before LTLA Administrative costs, Heirship Issues Expanded maximum lease length for individual and tribal trust from 5 years to 25 years Now organizational costs related to heirship are distributed over a longer time horizon In the short-run, the discounted present value of leasing individual trust land increases Expect slower flow of land from individual trust to fee-simple

23 Empirical Specification Seemingly Unrelated Regression TenurePctChange Avg. Percentage change from period t-i to t for a given tenure type LTLA=1 if year>1957 Predictions: Tribal Trust land becomes more desirable after LTLA: β 3 >0 Reduction in flow of land to fee-simple: β 3 <0 Interested in the marginal effect of LTLA β 2 +(β 3 x Year)

24 Marginal Effects of LTLA on Individual Trust Pct Change Marginal Effects Years After LTLA Marginal Effect Lower Bound Upper Bound

25 Marginal Effects of LTLA on Fee Simple Pct Change Marginal Effects Years After LTLA Marginal Effect Lower Bound Upper Bound

26 Incorporating Heirship Allotment Date Groups Unallotted vs. Early Allotment vs. Late Allotment Hypothesis: Land with more heirs, experiences more benefit following the LTLA Early allotment dates proxies for more heirs

27 Marginal Effects of LTLA on Pct Change in Individual Trust by Allotment Date Marginal Effects Years After LTLA Unallotted Allotted Before 1910 Allotted After 1910

28 Marginal Effects of LTLA on Pct Change in Fee-Simple by Allotment Date Marginal Effects Years After LTLA Unallotted Allotted Before 1910 Allotted After 1910

29 Paper Review Use a new reservation level panel dataset Examine national and regional trends in land tenure Explore how the Indian Long-Term Leasing Act (LTLA) of 1955 changed the flow of land between tenure types Significant changes to the growth rates of individual trust land and fee-simple land Test for differential impacts of the LTLA by allotment dates Suggests that heirship may be a major mechanism through which the LTLA is impacting land holding behavior Suggests policies aimed at decreasing transaction costs associated with Native American land tenure offer an alternative means of promoting economic development without sacrificing tribal sovereignty.

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