QUALITIES AND EFFECTIVE-QUANTITIES OF SLAVES IN NEW ORLEANS

A hedonic price index and a quality-adjusted quantity index are constructed in order to provide a clearer picture of how slave quality evolved. Controlling for slave quality, slave prices did not rise as much as previously thought. This is due to an increase in slave quality, especially during the earlier 1800s. Properly accounting for the effect of the 1808 prohibition of slave importation, there is evidence of a decline in slave quality. Finally, regressions reveal the puzzling fact that light skinned males sold at a premium, even though they would have been more immune to the local disease environment