Chain effects of clean water: The Mills-Reincke phenomenon in early twentieth-century Japan

Tatsuki Inoue and Kota Ogasawara

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Abstract: This study explores the validity of chain effects of clean water, which are known as the "Mills-Reincke phenomenon," in early twentieth-century Japan. Recent studies have reported that water purifications systems are responsible for huge contributions to human capital. Although some studies have investigated the instantaneous effects of water-supply systems in pre-war Japan, little is known about the chain effects of these systems. By analyzing city-level cause-specific mortality data from 1922-1940, we find that a decline in typhoid deaths by one per 1,000 people decreased the risk of death due to non-waterborne diseases such as tuberculosis and pneumonia by 0.742-2.942 per 1,000 people. Our finding suggests that the observed Mills-Reincke phenomenon could have resulted in the relatively rapid decline in the mortality rate in early twentieth-century Japan.

Date: 2018-04, Revised 2019-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:arx:papers:1805.00875

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