IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ehbiol/v6y2008i2p191-203.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Height, trade, and inequality in the Latin American periphery, 1950-2000

Author

Listed:
  • Baltzer, Markus
  • Baten, Jörg

Abstract

Which variables determine whether a country chooses an open or protected market? It has been argued that economic downturn leads to a higher propensity for protectionism. We find for seven Latin American countries in the second half of the 20th century that declining GDP motivated the opening wave, especially during the 1980s. Moreover, inequality could play a role, either in favor of "opening", as Stolper-Samuelson models would predict, or in favor of closing, as recent empirical studies found that open periods were associated with higher inequality. Using anthropometric indicators, we find that inequality in general tended to motivate "closing", whereas inequality did not stimulate opening.

Suggested Citation

  • Baltzer, Markus & Baten, Jörg, 2008. "Height, trade, and inequality in the Latin American periphery, 1950-2000," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 191-203, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:6:y:2008:i:2:p:191-203
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1570-677X(07)00070-6
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Moradi, Alexander & Baten, Joerg, 2005. "Inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa: New Data and New Insights from Anthropometric Estimates," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(8), pages 1233-1265, August.
    2. Lee Soltow, 1992. "Inequalities in the Standard of Living in the United States,1798-1875," NBER Chapters, in: American Economic Growth and Standards of Living before the Civil War, pages 121-172, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Angus Deaton, 2001. "Relative Deprivation, Inequality, and Mortality," NBER Working Papers 8099, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Sunder, Marco, 2003. "The making of giants in a welfare state: the Norwegian experience in the 20th century," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 1(2), pages 267-276, June.
    5. repec:bla:germec:v:4:y:2003:i::p:459-473 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Komlos, John, 1996. "Anomalies in Economic History: Toward a Resolution of the “Antebellum Puzzle”," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 56(01), pages 202-214, March.
    7. Wood, Adrian, 1998. "Globalisation and the Rise in Labour Market Inequalities," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 108(450), pages 1463-1482, September.
    8. Jeffrey D. Sachs & Andrew Warner, 1995. "Economic Reform and the Process of Global Integration," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 26(1, 25th A), pages 1-118.
    9. John Komlos, 1989. "Nutrition and Economic Development in the Eighteenth-Century Habsburg Monarchy: An Anthropometric History," Books by John Komlos, Department of Economics, University of Munich, number 2, June.
    10. Pradhan, Menno & Sahn, David E. & Younger, Stephen D., 2003. "Decomposing world health inequality," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 271-293, March.
    11. Gloria Quiroga & Sebastian Coll, 2000. "Income Distribution in the Mirror of Height Differences, The Case of Spain: 1895-1950," Journal of Income Distribution, Ad libros publications inc., vol. 9(1), pages 7-7, June.
    12. Robert E. Gallman & John Joseph Wallis, 1992. "American Economic Growth and Standards of Living before the Civil War," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number gall92-1.
    13. John Komlos & Peter Kriwy, 2003. "The Biological Standard of Living in the Two Germanies," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 4(4), pages 459-473, November.
    14. Wood, Adrian, 1997. "Openness and Wage Inequality in Developing Countries: The Latin American Challenge to East Asian Conventional Wisdom," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 11(1), pages 33-57, January.
    15. Jörg Baten & Uwe Fraunholz, 2004. "Did Partial Globalization Increase Inequality? The Case of the Latin American Periphery, 1950–2000," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 50(1), pages 45-84.
    16. repec:pri:cheawb:deaton_relative_deprivation.pdf is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Jaideep Oberoi & Syed Ahsan, 2003. "Inequality, Well-being and Institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean," CESifo Working Paper Series 846, CESifo.
    18. John Komlos, "undated". "Stature and Nutrition in the Habsburg Monarchy: The Standard of Living and Economic Development," Articles by John Komlos 36, Department of Economics, University of Munich.
    19. Milner, Helen V. & Kubota, Keiko, 2005. "Why the Move to Free Trade? Democracy and Trade Policy in the Developing Countries," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 59(1), pages 107-143, January.
    20. Richard H. Steckel, 1995. "Stature and the Standard of Living," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 33(4), pages 1903-1940, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Azmat Gani, 2019. "Globalisation and human development: Does export type matter?," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 53(4), pages 2235-2251, July.
    2. Dobado-González, Rafael & Garcia-Hiernaux, Alfredo, 2017. "Two worlds apart: Determinants of height in late 18th century central Mexico," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 153-163.
    3. Blum, Matthias, 2014. "Estimating male and female height inequality," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 14(C), pages 103-108.
    4. Challú, Amílcar E. & Silva-Castañeda, Sergio, 2016. "Towards an anthropometric history of latin America in the second half of the twentieth century," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 226-234.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jörg Baten, 2002. "Did Partial Globalization Increase Inequality? Did Inequality Stimulate Globalization Backlash? The case of the Latin American Periphery, 1950-80," CESifo Working Paper Series 683, CESifo.
    2. Moradi, Alexander & Baten, Joerg, 2005. "Inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa: New Data and New Insights from Anthropometric Estimates," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(8), pages 1233-1265, August.
    3. Blum, Matthias, 2014. "Estimating male and female height inequality," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 14(C), pages 103-108.
    4. Ramon Ramon-Muñoz & Josep-Maria Ramon-Muñoz, 2015. "Height and Industrialisation in a City in Catalonia during the Nineteenth Century," UB School of Economics Working Papers 2015/334, University of Barcelona School of Economics.
    5. Hiermeyer, Martin, 2008. "The trade-off between a high and an equal biological standard of living--Evidence from Germany," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 431-445, December.
    6. Baten, Joerg & Mumme, Christina, 2013. "Does inequality lead to civil wars? A global long-term study using anthropometric indicators (1816–1999)," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 56-79.
    7. María-Dolores, Ramón & Martínez-Carrión, José Miguel, 2011. "The relationship between height and economic development in Spain, 1850-1958," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 30-44, January.
    8. Steckel, Richard H., 2009. "Heights and human welfare: Recent developments and new directions," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 1-23, January.
    9. Hiermeyer, Martin, 2010. "The height and BMI values of West Point cadets after the Civil War," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 127-133, March.
    10. Maria-Dolores, Ramon & Martínez Carrion, José Miguel, 2012. "The comovement between height and some economic development indicators in Spain," UMUFAE Economics Working Papers 26464, DIGITUM. Universidad de Murcia.
    11. Komlos, John, 2012. "A Three-Decade “Kuhnian” History of the Antebellum Puzzle: Explaining the shrinking of the US population at the onset of modern economic growth," Discussion Papers in Economics 12758, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    12. Blum, Matthias, 2013. "The influence of inequality on the standard of living: Worldwide anthropometric evidence from the 19th and 20th centuries," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 436-452.
    13. Martin, Lisa & Baten, Joerg, 2022. "Inequality and Life Expectancy in Africa and Asia, 1820‐2000," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 201(C), pages 40-59.
    14. Stolz, Yvonne & Baten, Joerg, 2012. "Brain drain in the age of mass migration: Does relative inequality explain migrant selectivity?," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 205-220.
    15. Heineck, Guido, 2006. "Height and weight in Germany, evidence from the German Socio-Economic Panel, 2002," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 4(3), pages 359-382, December.
    16. Guntupalli, Aravinda Meera & Baten, Joerg, 2006. "The development and inequality of heights in North, West, and East India 1915-1944," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 578-608, October.
    17. 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.
    18. Jacobs, Jan & Tassenaar, Vincent, 2004. "Height, income, and nutrition in the Netherlands: the second half of the 19th century," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 2(2), pages 181-195, June.
    19. Pérez-Mesa, David & Marrero, Gustavo A. & Darias-Curvo, Sara, 2021. "Child health inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa," MPRA Paper 108801, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Scott A. Carson, 2006. "African-American and White Living Standards in the 19th Century American South: A Biological Comparison," CESifo Working Paper Series 1696, CESifo.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:6:y:2008:i:2:p:191-203. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622964 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.