Demographic, Residential, and Socioeconomic Effects on the Distribution of 19th Century African-American Stature
45 Pages Posted: 3 Dec 2008
Date Written: November 2008
Abstract
The use of height data to measure living standards is now a well-established method in the economic literature, and heights are related with vitamin D. Although African-Americans and whites have the genetic ability to reach similar terminal statures, 19th century blacks were consistently shorter than whites. Greater insolation (vitamin D production), is documented here to be associated with taller black statures. Consistent with the insolation-hypothesis, mulattos were taller than darker pigmented blacks, and most of the mulatto-black stature differential was attributable to age and insolation. Black farmers were taller than workers in other occupations, and black statures increased during the antebellum period and decreased with slavery's elimination, which is observed across the stature distribution.
Keywords: 19th century African-American stature, insolation, quantile regression
JEL Classification: J16
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?
Recommended Papers
-
By John Komlos and Marieluise Baur
-
The Economics of Mortality in North America, 1650-1910: A Description Ofa Research Project
By Robert W. Fogel, Stanley L. Engerman, ...
-
The Economic Foundations of East-West Migration During the Nineteenth Century
-
The Biological Standard of Living in the Two Germanies
By John Komlos and Peter Kriwy
-
Geography and Insolation in 19th Century US African-American and White Statures
-
Health During Industrialization: Evidence from the 19th Century Pennsylvania State Prison System
-
Nineteenth Century US African-American and White Female Statures: Insight from US Prison Records