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Health during Industrialization: Evidence from the 19th Century Pennsylvania State Prison System

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  • Scott A. Carson

Abstract

The use of height data to measure living standards is now a well-established method in economic history. Moreover, a number of core findings in this literature are widely agreed upon. There are still some populations, places, and times, however, for which anthropometric evidence remains thin. One example is African-Americans in the US Northeast and Middle Atlantic states during the 1800s. Here, a new data set is used from the Pennsylvania state prison to track heights of black and white males incarcerated between 1829 and 1909. Throughout the century, and controlling for a number of characteristics, black men in Pennsylvania were shorter than white men. The well-known mid-century height decline confirmed among white men, however, extended to blacks as well.

Suggested Citation

  • Scott A. Carson, 2007. "Health during Industrialization: Evidence from the 19th Century Pennsylvania State Prison System," CESifo Working Paper Series 1975, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_1975
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    File URL: https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp1975.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Amegashie, J. Atsu & Ouattara, Bazoumanna & Strobl, Eric, 2007. "Moral Hazard and the Composition of Transfers: Theory with an Application to Foreign Aid," MPRA Paper 3158, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 06 May 2007.
    2. Howard Bodenhorn, 2008. "Criminal Sentencing in Nineteenth Century Pennsylvania," NBER Working Papers 14283, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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