Short Criminals: Stature and Crime in Early America

35 Pages Posted: 3 May 2010 Last revised: 26 Jan 2023

See all articles by Howard Bodenhorn

Howard Bodenhorn

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); John E. Walker Department of Economics, Clemson University

Carolyn M. Moehling

Rutgers University, Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Gregory Price

Morehouse College - Department of Economics; School of Business, Langston University

Date Written: April 2010

Abstract

This paper considers the extent to which crime in early America was conditioned on height. With data on inmates incarcerated in Pennsylvania state penitentiaries between 1826 and 1876, we estimate the parameters of Wiebull proportional hazard specifications of the individual crime hazard. Our results reveal that, consistent with a theory in which height can be a source of labor market disadvantage, criminals in early America were shorter than the average American, and individual crime hazards decreased in height.

Suggested Citation

Bodenhorn, Howard and Moehling, Carolyn Marie and Price, Gregory, Short Criminals: Stature and Crime in Early America (April 2010). NBER Working Paper No. w15945, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1598061

Howard Bodenhorn (Contact Author)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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John E. Walker Department of Economics, Clemson University ( email )

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Carolyn Marie Moehling

Rutgers University, Department of Economics ( email )

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New Brunswick, NJ 08901
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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Gregory Price

Morehouse College - Department of Economics ( email )

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School of Business, Langston University ( email )

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Langston, OK 73050
United States

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