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The Engine And The Reaper: Industrialization And Mortality In Late Nineteenth Century Japan

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  • Tang, John P.

Abstract

Economic development improves long-run health outcomes through access to medical treatment, sanitation, and higher income. Short run impacts, however, may be ambiguous given disease exposure from market integration. Using a panel dataset of Japanese vital statistics and multiple estimation methods, I find that railroad network expansion is associated with a six percent increase in gross mortality rates among newly integrated regions. Communicable diseases accounted for most of the rail-associated mortality, which indicate railways behaved as transmission vectors. At the same time, market integration facilitated by railways corresponded with an eighteen percent increase in total capital investment nationwide over ten years.

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  • Tang, John P., 2017. "The Engine And The Reaper: Industrialization And Mortality In Late Nineteenth Century Japan," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 145-162.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:56:y:2017:i:c:p:145-162
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2017.09.004
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    6. Kota Ogasawara, 2021. "Technology, Institution, and Regional Growth: Evidence from Mineral Mining Industry in Industrializing Japan," Papers 2112.14514, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2024.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    difference-in-differences; matching estimators; market integration; mortality Kuznets curve; transportation infrastructure;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • N75 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Asia including Middle East
    • O24 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Trade Policy; Factor Movement; Foreign Exchange Policy

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