The Engine and the Reaper: Industrialization and Mortality in Early Modern Japan

John Tang

No 44, CEH Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University

Abstract: Economic development leads to improved health over time due to increased access to medical treatment, sanitation, and income, but in the short run the relationship may be negative given disease exposure from market integration. Using a panel dataset of vital statistics for Meiji Japan, I find mortality rates increased during the country's early industrialization, with railroad access accounting for over five percent of average mortality between 1886 and 1893. Estimates from a triple-differences framework indicate that communicable disease mortality accounts for 91 percent of the additional incidence, which suggests that improved transport may have operated as a vector for transmission.

Keywords: contagion; market integration; mortality Kuznets curve; public health; railroad transport (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J11 N75 O14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gro, nep-his and nep-lab
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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https://cbe.anu.edu.au/researchpapers/CEH/WP201601.pdf

Related works:
Working Paper: THE ENGINE AND THE REAPER: INDUSTRIALIZATION AND MORTALITY IN EARLY MODERN JAPAN (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:auu:hpaper:044

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