Sample-Selection Biases and the Industrialization Puzzle

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Clemson University; Yale University; University System of Georgia; Georgia State University; Federal Reserve System - USA; Federal Reserve Bank - Atlanta
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0507
• DOI: 10.1017/S0022050717000031
• 发表日期: 2017
• 页码: 171-207
• 关键词: living standards; anthropometric history; nutritional-status; economic-history; united-kingdom; dietary change; height; stature; 19th-century; indians

摘要

Understanding long-term changes in human well-being is central to understanding the consequences of economic development. An extensive anthropometric literature purports to show that heights in the United States declined between the 1830s and the 1890s, which is when the U.S. economy modernized. Most anthropometric research contends that declining heights reflect the negative health consequences of industrialization and urbanization. This interpretation, however, relies on sources subject to selection bias. Our meta-analysis shows that the declining height during industrialization emerges primarily in selected samples. We also develop a parsimonious diagnostic test that reveals, but does not correct for, selection bias in height samples. When applied to four representative height samples, the diagnostic provides compelling evidence of selection.