The economics of body height [Elektronische Ressource] : applications in economic history and labor economics / vorgelegt von Francesco Cinnirella

Cinnirella Francesco

Informations

• Publié par: ludwig-maximilians-universitat_munchen
• Publié le: 01 janvier 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 17
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

The Economics of Body Height:
Applications in Economic History
and Labor Economics





Inaugural-Dissertation
zur Erlangung des Grades
Doctor oeconomiae publicae (Dr. oec. publ.)
an der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Volkswirtschaftliche Fakultät


2007


vorgelegt von
Francesco Cinnirella





Referent: Prof. John Komlos, Ph.D.
Korreferent: Prof. Dr. Joachim Winter
Promotionsabschlussberatung: 06. Februar 2008


Acknowledgments

First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor Prof. John Komlos whose
uninterrupted support, guidance, and incitement made this dissertation possible.
I also received precious feedback from Prof. Joachim Winter who kindly
accepted to be co-supervisor. Prof. Ekkehart Schlicht and Dr. Sascha Becker
provided important inputs on the elaboration of the third chapter of this
dissertation: Their help is highly appreciated. I am also indebted to my colleague
Dr. Marco Sunder with whom I had several helpful and illuminating
conversations. I also profited from comments of my other colleagues Dr. Ariane
Breitfelder, Dr. Michela Coppola, Martin Hiermeyer, Dr. Arne Kues, and Jana
Lantzsch.
During the past three years, I benefited from the assistance of Mrs. Buchmayr,
Mrs. Jaeger, Mrs. Seidl, and Mrs. Szantone-Sturm who have been always ready to
offer their help when needed.
The stimulating environment at the Munich Graduate School of Economics
(MGSE) has been an important input for my research. Therefore I would like to
thank all students and professors with whom I have been in contact in the past
three years.
I would like to express my particular gratitude to Prof. Gianni Toniolo and Prof.
Giovanni Vecchi from University of Rome “Tor Vergata” who transmitted me
their passion for Economic History. Their teachings have been an important
guidance during these three years.
A special thank to my parents and my brother who taught me what is important
in life. Finally, without you, Bebe, all this would not have been possible.


Francesco Cinnirella
Munich, September 2007
i

Contents

Preface .......................................................................................................................1
References ................................................................................................................. 8

1…On the Road to Industrialization: Nutritional Status in Saxony,
1690-1850 .................................................................................................................. 12
1.1 Introduction........................................................................................................ 12
1.2 Data and statistical issues ................................................................................. 17
1.3 Nutritional status, 1680-1784........................................................................... 24
1.4 Nutritional status and early industrial development .................................... 31
1.5 Nutritional status by district............................................................................. 38
1.6 Discussion and conclusion............................................................................... 42
References........................................................................................................................ 46

2…Optimists or Pessimists? A Reconsideration of Nutritional Status in
Britain, 1740-1865 ..................................................................................................52
2.1 Introduction........................................................................................................ 52
2.2 Data and methodology ..................................................................................... 56
ii2.3 The trend in nutritional status ......................................................................... 63
2.3.1 Height velocity and the English industrial revolution............................. 74
2.3.2 Urbanization and the nutritional status ..................................................... 77
2.4 Enclosures and nutritional status.................................................................... 81
2.5 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 86
References........................................................................................................................ 89

3…Body Height, Wage Discrimination, and Occupational Sorting:
A Cross-European Analysis...............................................................................94
3.1 Introduction........................................................................................................ 94
3.2 The dataset.......................................................................................................... 97
3.2.1 Height and cognitive functions.................................................................100
3.3 Compensating wage differentials ..................................................................104
3.3.1 Height premium in the male labor market..............................................108
3.3.2 Height premium and sample selection in the female labor market.....110
3.4 Height-wage-gap and discrimination............................................................115
3.5 Occupational sorting.......................................................................................117
3.5.1 Estimates of male occupational sorting...................................................119
3.5.2 Female occupational sorting......................................................................124
3.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................126
References......................................................................................................................127

iii


Preface


The economics of body height studies the complex interrelationship between
physical stature and the economic environment in which it thrives. This
interrelationship is bi-directional as, initially, the economy has a direct impact on
physical growth whereas, later, body height through productivity has an impact
on labor outcomes.
Physical stature is the result of a combination of genetic and environmental
factors. About genetics, physical growth is a polygenic process as numerous
genes have been found to be associated with growth (Silventoinen, 2003).
Previous studies have assessed that heritability of body height is about 80 percent
1whereas the remaining 20 percent is determined by environmental factors. Some
studies also suggest that heritability of body height is not constant: the
correlation seems to be comparatively lower in poor environments (Mueller,
1976; Lauderdale and Rathouz, 1999, Silventoinen et al. 2000). This fact is very
important as body height is largely studied for historical periods in which
individuals lived in very poor economic frameworks. Anyway, the genetic
component of height cancels out when comparing averages across homogenous
populations or, within a given population, when comparing average heights of
different socio-economic groups.
Nutrition and disease are regarded as the main environmental factors
affecting physical stature. Height mirrors the net nutritional status that is the

1 See Silventoinen (2003) for an exhaustive literature review of relevant twin studies on body
height heritability. balance between caloric intake and expenditure of energy. Adult final height
reflects then the accumulated past nutritional experience throughout the growing
years, including the fetal period. Disentangling the effect of caloric intake and
claims on nutrients is non-trivial. In fact, both the caloric intake and the
expenditure of energy depend on the health status of the individual. Diseases can
prevent food intake, cause nutrient losses, and increase energy expenditure.
Furthermore, the analysis of physical stature must account not only for health
and nutritional inputs but also for workload and labor organization (Steckel,
1995). Despite the objective difficulties to disentangle the net effect of nutrition
and disease on body height, the latter yields precious information on how a
social group or a population fared during childhood and adolescence in its socio-
economic and epidemiological environment (Komlos and Snowdon, 2005).
Determinants of height include also real disposable family income and the
relative price of nutrients. Cross-sectional systematic differences in height
between different income groups have been established, without exception,
everywhere and for all time periods (Komlos and Snowdon, 2005). In fact,
higher social status, linked to income and education, is generally highly correlated
with taller physical stature (Steckel, 1995). It is noteworthy also the relationship
between income distribution and average height at a population level. Due to
decreasing marginal returns to nutrient intake, an inc