GDP per capita and the biological standard of living in contemporary developing countries (original) (raw)
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Standard economic indicators suggest that the United States experienced long-run economic growth throughout the nineteenth century. However, biological indicators, including human stature, offer a different picture, rising early in the century, falling (on average) mid-century, and rising again at the end of the century. This pattern varied across geographical regions. Using a unique data set, consisting of mean adult stature
Convergence (and divergence) in the biological standard of living in the USA, 1820–1900
Cliometrica, 2008
Standard economic indicators suggest that the United States experienced long-run economic growth throughout the nineteenth century. However, biological indicators, including human stature, offer a different picture, rising early in the century, falling (on average) mid-century, and rising again at the end of the century. This pattern varied across geographical regions. Using a unique data set, consisting of mean adult stature by state, we test for convergence in stature among states in the nineteenth century. We find that during the period of declining mean stature, heights actually diverged. Later in the century we find a type of "negative" convergence indicating that stature among states tended to converge to a new, lower steady state. Only towards the end of the century do we find classic convergence behavior. We argue that the diversity of economic experiences across regions, e.g. urbanization, industrialization, and transportation improvements, explain this pattern of divergence and then convergence.
Economic growth and the biological standard of living in China, 1880–1930
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Recent scholarship has revised the once pessimistic view of the Chinese economy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but controversy surrounds the distribution effects of economic growth. Did livelihoods improve? Who benefited from the growth? Which regions were better off? Past studies infer an improved standard of living based on sparse data for wages, the output of cotton textiles and movements in grain prices. Height data provide an additional measure of the change in welfare, specifically the biological standard of living. This paper draws on the health examination records conducted at various Chinese government enterprises and agencies during the 1930s and 1940s, and shows a modest improvement in this measure of human welfare in some regions of China from the 1890s to the 1920s.
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This paper analyses the relationship between economic growth and improvements in the standard of living, indicated by average heights. It uses four sets of anthropometric data to construct time series of average human height since the 1770s. The paper observes a significant decline of heights in the 1870s, followed by only modest recovery during the next three decades. Both are related to a sequence of disasters. Average heights increased from the 1900s, accelerating after World War II. The Japanese occupation and war of independence in the 1940s were a set-back. Average height growth is related to improvements in food supply and the disease environment, particularly hygiene and medical care. GDP per capita and average height followed each other in broad terms, but the correlation is far from perfect. The paper offers several hypotheses to explain this fact.
The biological standard of living (and its convergence) in Colombia, 1870–2003
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During the 20th century, the evolution of the biological standard of living in Colombia was a tropical success story from the point of view of the secular increase in height as well as the reduction of inequality. During the period 1905-1985 the average height of females and males increased by nearly 9 cm on the basis of 9 million records examined from National Identification Cards. We also study the evolution of height of Colombians on the basis of passport records. The elite group of passport holders was much taller than average, and remained stable for the birth cohorts of 1870-1919. In the early 20th century the height of passport recipients was 168.7 cm (men) and 158 cm (women) compared with 162 cm and 150 cm for heights in the national ID cards. The results also show that Colombians experienced significant regional and intrapersonal convergence in height.
Economics and Human Biology, 2020
A sample of over 44 thousand Chilean marines was used to estimate the trend of mean heights from the 1820s to the 1890s. We confirm that there was height stagnation in the last decades of the nineteenth-century Chile despite sizeable per capita GDP growth; there were hidden nutritional costs to this economic growth. This situation resembles a similar puzzle in antebellum USA or early industrial Britain, but in the case of Chile GDP growth is not explained by industrialization but by export-led-growth. Still, the results are similar: height stagnation. Regarding the determinants of adult male height, our data also convincingly showed that there was a significant correlation between height and literacy. There was a positive correlation between height and white ethnicity, and, linked to this, a strong negative correlation between stature and eyes reported as “black”. Finally, living in urban environments (or environments with higher population density) also negatively affected height.
Living Standards, Nutrition and Inequality in the Spanish Industrialisation. An Anthropometric View
This article presents an overview of the study of living standards in Spain from the perspective of anthropometric history and according to new data from recent research. The aim is to examine changes in nutrition during the industrial age through anthropometric indicators. The paper provides new evidence on the changes in height among different socioeconomic groups and its relation with health and human well-being in different periods and geographical regions. It also explores inequality before and during the process of industrialisation. In addition to tracking the effects of environmental changes on well-being and inequality between the proto-industrial period in the eighteenth century and the industrial leap in the beginning of the second half of the twentieth century, it explores the costs of industrialisation in biological standards of living in the short- and the long-term. Finally, it suggests future directions of research.
ABSTRACT By analyzing the Mexican case for the period 1850–1986, we argue that the average adult stature of a population can be used as a tool to analyze inequality in living standards. The findings suggest that the secular trend in stature is related to cycles of economic growth, inequality, wars and institutional changes. Such processes affect socioeconomic groups and regions differently and generate unequal living standard patterns. Moreover, male adult average height shows a U-shaped trend for the whole period of study. As a result, Mexico lagged behind on heights with respect to other Latin American economies such as Brazil and Colombia. Two different types of data sources are used for the analysis: military and passport records for the period 1850–1950 and the 2000 Mexican National Health Survey (ENSA-2000) and the 2006 Mexican National Survey on Health and Nutrition (ENSANUT-2006) for the remaining years. KEYWORDS: Inequality, Anthropometric indicators, Living standards, Economic history, Health, Nutrition
Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 2015
By analyzing the Mexican case for the period 1850-1986, we argue that the average adult stature of a population can be used as a tool to analyze inequality in living standards. The findings suggest that the secular trend in stature is related to cycles of economic growth, inequality, wars and institutional changes. Such processes affect socioeconomic groups and regions differently and generate unequal living standard patterns. Moreover, male adult average height shows a U-shaped trend for the whole period of study. As a result, Mexico lagged behind on heights with respect to other Latin American economies such as Brazil and Colombia. Two different types of data sources are used for the analysis: military and passport records for the period 1850