1. | The Miners' Choices: Voice or Exit | 3 |
2. | The Analytical Framework | 11 |
| The Implications of Competition | 11 |
| The Impact of Collective Action and Unions | 14 |
| Summary of Implications | 16 |
3. | The Coal Labor Market, 1890-1930 | 19 |
| Long-term Trends in the Coal Product Market | 19 |
| Exercising Voice Through the Union | 23 |
| Competition Among Employers for Labor | 25 |
| The Miners' Mobility | 27 |
| The Miners' Information | 31 |
| Summary | 35 |
4. | Working in a Coal Mine | 42 |
| Tonnage Men | 42 |
| Daymen | 45 |
| Management | 47 |
| Rewards in the Occupational Hierarchy | 49 |
5. | Methods of Wage Payment | 60 |
| Piece Rates, Time Rates, and Transactions Costs | 60 |
| Piece Rates and Quality Control | 65 |
| Piece Rates and Variation in Mine Conditions | 68 |
| Summary | 73 |
6. | Dig Sixteen Tons and What Did You Get? Earnings | 79 |
| Why Become a Miner? High Hourly Earnings | 80 |
| Annual Earnings | 83 |
| The Worker's Choice | 84 |
| Trends in Real Earnings | 88 |
| Regional Comparisons Within Coal Mining | 91 |
| Summary | 97 |
7. | Death's Taken a Mighty Toll for Coal, Coal, Coal | 102 |
| The Extent and Nature of Coal Accidents | 102 |
| Wages and Accident Rates | 108 |
| Unions and Safety | 111 |
| Government Regulation of Safety | 112 |
| Changes in Liability Laws | 118 |
| Compensation and Accident Prevention | 120 |
| Summary | 125 |
8. | Did Coal Miners "Owe Their Souls to the Company Store"? | 133 |
| The Limits on Store Monopoly | 134 |
| Why Did Companies Own Stores? | 135 |
| Store Prices | 136 |
| Were Miners Forced to Buy at the Store? | 141 |
| Conclusions | 147 |
9. | The Company Town | 152 |
| The Nature of Company Housing | 152 |
| Why Did Companies Own Housing? | 155 |
| Monopoly Ownership? | 155 |
| The "Necessity" of Company Ownership | 157 |
| A Device to Prevent Collective Action | 159 |
| Model Towns | 161 |
| Sanitation in Coal Towns During the 1920s | 161 |
| Sanitation in Company Towns | 163 |
| Sanitation in Company versus Independent Towns | 164 |
| Conclusions | 165 |
10. | Coal Mines as Melting Pots | 171 |
| The Geographic Location of Blacks and Immigrants | 172 |
| The Limited Nature of Discrimination in West Virginia | 176 |
| Wage Rates and Earnings | 176 |
| Differences in Workplace Safety | 178 |
| Positioning in the Job Hierarchy | 179 |
| The Impact of Competition on Segregated Schools | 184 |
| Housing Segregation | 186 |
| Segregation Across Mines | 188 |
| Black Workers in Alabama | 190 |
| Black Workers and the UMWA | 190 |
| Summary | 191 |
11. | What Did Miners Gain from Strikes? | 198 |
| Strike Activity in Bituminous Coal Mining | 199 |
| Differences in Strike Activity Within the Coal Industry | 203 |
| The Pecuniary Gains and Losses from Strikes | 205 |
| Violence During Strikes | 212 |
| Conclusions | 215 |
12. | Conclusions | 221 |
Appendix A | Calculating Earnings for Workers in Coal Mining and Manufacturing | 225 |
| Annual Earnings | 225 |
| Hourly Earnings | 226 |
Appendix B | Sources of Data for Panel of Twenty-three Coal States from 1901 to 1930 | 234 |
| Accident Rates | 234 |
| Coal Prices, Technological Variables, Strikes, Union Strength, and Mine Size | 235 |
| Wage Rates | 236 |
| Workers' Compensation Legislation | 237 |
| State Mining Legislation and Enforcement | 238 |
Appendix C | Estimating the Relationship Between Wages and Accident Rates | 242 |
Appendix D | A Theoretical Model of Accident Prevention by Miners and Employers | 250 |
| The Representative Miner | 251 |
| The Operator | 253 |
| Combining the Results | 254 |
Appendix E | Measuring Segregation in Job Hierarchies | 256 |
Appendix F | An Empirical Test of the Influence of Coal Companies on Equalizing Black and White Schools in West Virginia | 262 |
Appendix G | Piece Rate Regressions for West Virginia Counties | 266 |
| Index | 271 |