Sample-Selection Bias and Height Trends in the Nineteenth-Century United States

Ariell Zimran

No 24815, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: After adjusting for sample-selection bias, I find a net decline in average stature of 0.64 inches in the birth cohorts of 1832--1860 in the US. This result supports the veracity of the Antebellum Puzzle—a deterioration of health during early modern economic growth in the US. However, this adjustment alters the trend in average stature, validating concerns over bias in the historical heights literature. The adjustment is based on census-linked military height data and uses a two-step semi-parametric sample-selection model to adjust for selection on observables and unobservables.

JEL-codes: I15 N11 N31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea and nep-his
Note: DAE
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Published as Ariell Zimran, 2019. "Sample-Selection Bias and Height Trends in the Nineteenth-Century United States," The Journal of Economic History, vol 79(01), pages 99-138.

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