Technological Progress and Health Convergence: The Case of Penicillin in Post-War Italy

Marcella Alsan (), Vincenzo Atella, Jay Bhattacharya, Valentina Conti (), Iván Mejía-Guevara and Grant Miller

No 25541, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Throughout history, technological progress has transformed population health, but the distributional effects of these gains are unclear. New substitutes for older, more expensive health technologies can produce convergence in population health outcomes, but may also be prone to “elite capture” leading to divergence. This paper studies the case of penicillin using detailed mortality statistics and exploiting its sharply-timed introduction in Italy after World War II. We find penicillin reduced both the mean and standard deviation of infectious diseases mortality, leading to substantial convergence across disparate regions of Italy. Our results do not appear to be confounded by competing risks or mortality patterns associated with World War II.

JEL-codes: I10 J10 N00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-02
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Published as Marcella Alsan & Vincenzo Atella & Jay Bhattacharya & Valentina Conti & Iván Mejía-Guevara & Grant Miller, 2021. "Technological Progress and Health Convergence: The Case of Penicillin in Postwar Italy," Demography, vol 58(4), pages 1473-1498.

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Working Paper: Technological Progress and Health Convergence: The Case of Penicillin in Post-War Italy (2019)
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