Doctoral Dissertation Research in Economics: An Econometric Analysis of Cherokee Indian Agricultural Performance Before Removal

本论文的研究对迁移时期（1835-1838）切罗基印第安农民和后来耕种同一土地的白色农民的农业生产率进行了比较研究。 当时，迁移的争论围绕着切罗基人使用的低效农业做法。 使用随机距离前沿方法，技术效率，以及其他生产力措施，为每个切罗基和白色家庭可以估计。 然而，这项研究的目的不是为了证明一个过时的政策，而是为了研究效率的变化在切罗基农场以及这两个群体之间。 通过隔离切罗基和白色社会之间的差异，这项研究将加强我们对印度/白色关系在这个特殊的时刻的理解。数据收集和分析将大大增加对美洲原住民经济研究的缺乏。 尽管有大量关于切罗基人文化适应和迁移的文献，但本项目是对这两个群体之间的农业绩效进行的第一次大规模比较研究。

This dissertation research conducts an comparative study of the agricultural productivity of Removal Period (1835-1838) Cherokee Indian farmers and white farmers who later cultivated the same land. At this time, the argument for removal revolved around the inefficient agricultural practices used by the Cherokee. Using the stochastic distance frontier approach, the technical efficiency, as well as other productivity measures, for each Cherokee and white household can be estimated. Yet, the goal for this research is not to justify an antiquated policy, but to examine the variation of efficiency across Cherokee farms as well as between these two groups. By isolating the differences between Cherokee and white societies, this study will strengthen our understanding of Indian/White relations at this particular juncture. The data collection and analysis will add greatly to the dearth of economic studies on Native Americans. Despite a vast literature on Cherokee acculturation and removal, this project is the first large-scale comparative study of the agricultural performance between these two groups.