TY  - JOUR
AU  - Steckel, Richard H
TI  - Heights and Human Welfare: Recent Developments and New Directions
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 14536
PY  - 2008
Y2  - December 2008
DO  - 10.3386/w14536
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14536
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14536.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Richard H. Steckel
Department of Economics
Ohio State University
410 Arps Hall, 1945 North High Street
Columbus, OH  43210-1172
Tel: 614/292-5008
E-Mail: steckel.1@osu.edu
AB  - Since 1995 approximately 325 publications on stature have appeared in the social sciences, which is more than a four-fold increase in the rate of production relative to the period 1977-1994.  The expansion occurred in several areas, but especially within economics, indicating that heights are now widely accepted as a useful measure of human welfare.  Much of this new work extends beyond the traditional bailiwick of anthropometric history, including biological welfare during economic and political crises; anthropometric influences on wages; the welfare of women relative to men in the contemporary world; the fetal origins hypothesis; and inequality in the developing world.  The approach has also expanded within economic history to consider the consequences of empire for colonials; the health of populations lacking traditional measures of social performance; the consequences of smallpox; and very long-term trends in health.  Much has also been learned about socioeconomic aspects of inequality, the welfare implications of industrialization, and socioeconomic determinants of stature.  The last is a work in progress and one may doubt whether sufficient longitudinal evidence will become available for a complete understanding of the variety and strength of pathways that affect human physical growth.
ER  -