Explaining Declines in US Rural Mortality, 1910-1933: The Role of County Health Departments

Hoehn-Velasco, Lauren

Explaining Declines in US Rural Mortality, 1910-1933: The Role of County Health Departments

No 919, Boston College Working Papers in Economics from Boston College Department of Economics

Abstract: This study estimates the impact of an American rural public health program on child mortality over 1908 to 1933. Due to the absence of sanitation and child-oriented health services outside of urban areas, public and private agencies sponsored county-level health departments (CHDs) throughout the US. Variation in the location and timing of the CHDs identifies improvements in population health, which are captured entirely by children. Mortality declines emerge in infancy and gradually decay through childhood. Adversely affected areas with either an ample population of nonwhites or greater levels of preexisting infectious disease undergo larger reductions in mortality.

Keywords: mortality; health; development; rural population; demographic transition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I15 I18 N31 N32 O12 O18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-10-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea and nep-his
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Journal Article: Explaining declines in US rural mortality, 1910–1933: The role of county health departments (2018)
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