Anthropometric evidence on living standards in Northern Italy, 1730-1860

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Franklin & Marshall College
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0507
• 发表日期: 2003
• 页码: 351-381
• 关键词: industrial-revolution; secular trends; stature; height; nutrition

摘要

New estimates of mean stature indicate declining heights in Northern Italy from 1730 to 1860, corroborating recent findings of a deterioration in per capita GDP and real wages-though possibly calling into question its severity. The level of heights in the 1830s is respectable in international comparison. Estimated geographic and occupational effects show the influence of the disease environment, malnutrition, and income. Declining living standards suggest a Malthusian interpretation of the economy, in which even a relatively flexible agricultural sector was not quite able to keep UP with the growing pressure of population on resources.