Public Health Efforts and the Decline in Urban Mortality

D. Mark Anderson (), Kerwin Kofi Charles () and Daniel I. Rees ()
Additional contact information
D. Mark Anderson: Montana State University
Kerwin Kofi Charles: Yale University
Daniel I. Rees: Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

No 11773, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Using data on 25 major American cities for the period 1900-1940, we explore the effects of municipal-level public health efforts that were viewed as critical in the fight against food- and water-borne diseases. In addition to studying interventions such as treating sewage and setting strict bacteriological standards for milk, which have received little attention in the literature, we provide new evidence on the effects of water filtration and chlorination, extending the work of previous scholars. Contrary to the consensus view, we find that none of the interventions under study contributed substantially to the observed declines in total and infant mortality.

Keywords: public health; mortality; chlorination; filtration; pasteurization; sewage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I15 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 100 pages
Date: 2018-08
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

Published - published as 'Re-Examining the Contribution of Public Health Efforts to the Decline in Urban Mortality' in: American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2022, 14 (2), 126-157.

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