Did smallpox reduce height?: stature and the standard of living in London, 1770-1873

Voth, Hans-Joachim and Leunig, Tim (1996) Did smallpox reduce height?: stature and the standard of living in London, 1770-1873. Economic History Review, 49 (3). pp. 541-560. ISSN 0013-0117

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Abstract

In this paper, we re-examine the effect of smallpox on the height attained by those who suffered from this disease. To this end, we analyse a dataset assembled by Floud, Wachter and Gregory on the height of recruits into the Marine Society, 1770-1873. Using both time series and cross-sectional analysis, we show that smallpox was indeed an important determinant of height: those who had suffered from smallpox were significantly shorter. This suggests that the increase in heights documented by Floud et al. may be explained not just by increased nutritional intake, but also by the eradication of smallpox.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journals/EHR
Additional Information:	© 1996 Blackwell Publishing
Divisions:	Economic History Spatial Economics Research Centre
Subjects:	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
Date Deposited:	28 Jun 2006
Last Modified:	13 Sep 2024 21:06
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/497

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