Wealth accumulation and the health of Union Army veterans, 1860-1870

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Seoul National University (SNU)
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0507
• 发表日期: 2005
• 页码: 352-385
• 关键词: world-war-ii; follow-up; vietnam veterans; stress disorder; mortality; PRISONERS; combat; world-war-2; morbidity; nutrition

摘要

How did the wartime health of Union Army recruits affect their wealth accumulation through 1870? Wounds and exposure to combat had strong negative effects on subsequent savings, as did illnesses while in the service. The impact of poor health was particularly strong for unskilled workers. Health was a powerful determinant of nineteenth-century economic mobility. Infectious diseases' influences on wealth accumulation suggest that the economic gains from the improvement of the disease environment should be enormous. The direct economic costs of the Civil War were probably much greater than previously thought, given the persistent adverse health effects of wartime experiences.