Health and Welfare during Industrialization
9780226771595
Health and Welfare during Industrialization
In this unique anthology, Steckel and Floud coordinate ten essays that bring a new perspective to inquiry about standard of living in modern times. These papers are arranged for international comparison, and they individually examine evidence of health and welfare during and after industrialization in eight countries: the United States, Britain, Sweden, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Japan, and Australia.
The essays incorporate several indicators of quality of life, especially real per capita income and health, but also real wages, education, and inequality. And while the authors use traditional measures of health such as life expectancy and mortality rates, this volume stands alone in its extensive use of new "anthropometric" data—information about height, weight and body mass index that indicates changes in nations’ well-being. Consequently, Health and Welfare during Industrialization signals a new direction in economic history, a broader and more thorough understanding of what constitutes standard of living.
The essays incorporate several indicators of quality of life, especially real per capita income and health, but also real wages, education, and inequality. And while the authors use traditional measures of health such as life expectancy and mortality rates, this volume stands alone in its extensive use of new "anthropometric" data—information about height, weight and body mass index that indicates changes in nations’ well-being. Consequently, Health and Welfare during Industrialization signals a new direction in economic history, a broader and more thorough understanding of what constitutes standard of living.
476 pages | 1 map, 97 line drawings, 97 tables | 6 x 9 | © 1997
National Bureau of Economic Research Project Report
Economics and Business: Health Economics
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Richard H. Steckel, Roderick Floud.
1: The Standard of Living Debate in International Perspective: Measures and Indicators
Stanley L. Engerman
2: Long-Term Trends in Health, Welfare, and Economic Growth in the United States
Dora L. Costa, Richard H. Steckel.
3: Health, Height, and Welfare: Britain, 1700-1980
Roderick Floud, Bernard Harris.
4: Was Industrialization Hazardous to Your Health? Not in Sweden!
Lars G. Sandberg, Richard H. Steckel.
5: Economic Welfare and Physical Well-Being in France, 1750-1990
David R. Weir
6: Health and Welfare of Women in the United Kingdom, 1785-1920
Paul Johnson, Stephen Nicholas.
7: Differential Structure, Differential Health: Industrialization in Japan, 1868-1940
Gail Honda
8: Heights and Living Standards in Germany, 1850-1939: The Case of Wurttemberg
Sophia Twarog
9: Paradoxes of Modernization and Material Well-Being in the Netherlands during the Nineteenth Century
J. W. Drukker, Vincent Tassenaar.
10: Height, Health, and Economic Growth in Australia, 1860-1940
Greg Whitwell, Christine de Souza, Stephen Nicholas.
11: Conclusions
Richard H. Steckel, Roderick Floud.
Contributors
Author Index
Subject Index
Introduction
Richard H. Steckel, Roderick Floud.
1: The Standard of Living Debate in International Perspective: Measures and Indicators
Stanley L. Engerman
2: Long-Term Trends in Health, Welfare, and Economic Growth in the United States
Dora L. Costa, Richard H. Steckel.
3: Health, Height, and Welfare: Britain, 1700-1980
Roderick Floud, Bernard Harris.
4: Was Industrialization Hazardous to Your Health? Not in Sweden!
Lars G. Sandberg, Richard H. Steckel.
5: Economic Welfare and Physical Well-Being in France, 1750-1990
David R. Weir
6: Health and Welfare of Women in the United Kingdom, 1785-1920
Paul Johnson, Stephen Nicholas.
7: Differential Structure, Differential Health: Industrialization in Japan, 1868-1940
Gail Honda
8: Heights and Living Standards in Germany, 1850-1939: The Case of Wurttemberg
Sophia Twarog
9: Paradoxes of Modernization and Material Well-Being in the Netherlands during the Nineteenth Century
J. W. Drukker, Vincent Tassenaar.
10: Height, Health, and Economic Growth in Australia, 1860-1940
Greg Whitwell, Christine de Souza, Stephen Nicholas.
11: Conclusions
Richard H. Steckel, Roderick Floud.
Contributors
Author Index
Subject Index