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Birth Weight and Economic Growth

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  • Ward, W. Peter

Abstract

How can the history of birth weight add to our knowledge of women's living conditions in the past? In this study of newborn weight and economic growth in Boston, Dublin, Edinburgh, Montreal, and Vienna between 1850 and 1930, W. Peter Ward explores the relation between infant size, economic development, and living standards of working-class women in the industrializing West. Drawing on clinical records from urban maternity hospitals and outpatient services, Ward compares birth weight between cities and traces changes in fetal size during a period in which some cities experienced dramatic economic development while others stagnated. Because fetal growth is strongly affected by maternal nutrition, Ward's research sheds new light on the well-being of working-class women whose living conditions have long been obscure and exceedingly difficult to examine. This book will interest social and economic historians, as well as scholars of women's studies and the history of medicine, and its lessons on the distribution of social benefits during economic change have immidiate relevance for today's developing countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Ward, W. Peter, 1993. "Birth Weight and Economic Growth," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226873220, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:bkecon:9780226873220
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Dora Costa & Richard H. Steckel, 1997. "Long-Term Trends in Health, Welfare, and Economic Growth in the United States," NBER Chapters, in: Health and Welfare during Industrialization, pages 47-90, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Galofré-Vilà, Gregori, 2018. "Growth and maturity: A quantitative systematic review and network analysis in anthropometric history," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 107-118.
    3. Eric B. Schneider, 2017. "Children's growth in an adaptive framework: explaining the growth patterns of American slaves and other historical populations," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 70(1), pages 3-29, February.
    4. Stanley L. Engerman, 1997. "The Standard of Living Debate in International Perspective: Measures and Indicators," NBER Chapters, in: Health and Welfare during Industrialization, pages 17-46, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Francesco Scalone & Patrizia Agati & Aurora Angeli & Annalisa Donno, 2017. "Exploring unobserved heterogeneity in perinatal and neonatal mortality risks: The case of an Italian sharecropping community, 1900–39," Population Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 71(1), pages 23-41, January.
    6. Kris Inwood & Evan Roberts, 2010. "Longitudinal Studies Of Human Growth And Health: A Review Of Recent Historical Research," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 801-840, December.
    7. Costa, Dora L., 2004. "The Measure of Man and Older Age Mortality: Evidence from the Gould Sample," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 64(1), pages 1-23, March.
    8. Francesco Scalone & Alessandra Samoggia, 2018. "Neonatal mortality, cold weather, and socioeconomic status in two northern Italian rural parishes, 1820–1900," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 39(18), pages 525-560.
    9. Mark E. McGovern, 2016. "Progress and the Lack of Progress in Addressing Infant Health and Infant Health Inequalities in Ireland during the 20th Century," Economics Working Papers 16-05, Queen's Management School, Queen's University Belfast.
    10. Schneider, Eric B., 2017. "Fetal health stagnation: Have health conditions in utero improved in the United States and Western and Northern Europe over the past 150 years?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 18-26.
    11. Dora L. Costa, 2015. "Health and the Economy in the United States from 1750 to the Present," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 53(3), pages 503-570, September.
    12. Joël Floris & Kaspar Staub & Ulrich Woitek, 2016. "The benefits of intervention: birth weights in Basle 1912-1920," ECON - Working Papers 236, Department of Economics - University of Zurich.
    13. Costa, Dora L., 2004. "Race and Pregnancy Outcomes in the Twentieth Century: A Long-Term Comparison," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 64(4), pages 1056-1086, December.
    14. Mironov, Boris, 2007. "Birth weight and physical stature in St. Petersburg: Living standards of women in Russia, 1980-2005," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 123-143, March.
    15. Dora L. Costa & Joanna Lahey, 2003. "Becoming Oldest-Old: Evidence from Historical U.S. Data," NBER Working Papers 9933, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Eric B. Schneider, 2017. "Children's growth in an adaptive framework: explaining the growth patterns of American slaves and other historical populations," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 70(1), pages 3-29, February.

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