Build better health: evidence from Ireland on housing quality and mortality

de Bromhead, Alan, Lyons, Ronan C. and Ohler, Johann (2025) Build better health: evidence from Ireland on housing quality and mortality. Economic History Working Papers (386). London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.

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Abstract

Poor housing conditions, and the negative effects of Household Air Pollution (HAP) in particular, remain one of the most pressing global public health challenges. While the association between poor housing and health has a long history, evidence of a direct link is lacking. In this paper, we examine a rare example of a public housing intervention in rural areas, namely the large-scale provision of high-quality housing in Ireland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. We exploit a novel dataset of deaths-by-disease and deaths-by-age-and-sex over the period 1871–1919, to test the impact of the intervention on mortality. Our difference-in difference estimates indicate that improved housing conditions reduced mortality by as much as 1 death per 1000. This effect is driven by reductions in deaths from respiratory diseases. We propose a likely mechanism that is consistent with the pattern of results we observe: a reduction in Household Air Pollution through improved housing quality and better ventilation. A cost-benefit analysis reveals that the scheme was a highly cost-effective intervention.

Item Type:	Monograph (Working Paper)
Official URL:	https://www.lse.ac.uk/Economic-History/Working-Pap...
Divisions:	Methodology Economic History
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions
JEL classification:	N - Economic History > N3 - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Income, and Wealth > N33 - Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Income and Wealth: Europe: Pre-1913 N - Economic History > N9 - Regional and Urban History > N93 - Europe: Pre-1913 Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics > Q53 - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O18 - Regional, Urban, and Rural Analyses J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J10 - General
Date Deposited:	21 Oct 2025 08:42
Last Modified:	23 Oct 2025 08:48
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/129884

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