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Was the First Public Health Campaign Successful?

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  • D. Mark Anderson
  • Kerwin Kofi Charles
  • Claudio Las Heras Olivares
  • Daniel I. Rees

Abstract

The US tuberculosis (TB) movement pioneered many of the strategies of modern public health campaigns. Using newly transcribed mortality data at the municipal level for the period 1900–1917, we explore the effectiveness of public health measures championed by the TB movement, including the establishment of sanatoriums and open-air camps, prohibitions on public spitting and common cups, and requirements that local health officials be notified about TB cases. Our results suggest that these and other anti-TB measures can explain, at most, only a small portion of the overall decline in pulmonary TB mortality observed during the period under study.

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  • D. Mark Anderson & Kerwin Kofi Charles & Claudio Las Heras Olivares & Daniel I. Rees, 2019. "Was the First Public Health Campaign Successful?," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(2), pages 143-175, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:11:y:2019:i:2:p:143-75
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/app.20170411
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    Cited by:

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    2. Alex Hollingsworth & Krzysztof Karbownik & Melissa A. Thomasson & Anthony Wray, 2024. "The Gift of a Lifetime: The Hospital, Modern Medicine, and Mortality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 114(7), pages 2201-2238, July.
    3. Rees, Daniel I. & Smith, Brock, 2022. "Terror attacks and election outcomes in Europe, 1970–2017," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    4. Peri, Giovanni & Rees, Daniel I. & Smith, Brock, 2020. "Terrorism, Political Opinions, and Election Outcomes: Evidence from Europe," IZA Discussion Papers 13090, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Marein, Brian, 2023. "Public health departments and the mortality transition in Latin America: Evidence from Puerto Rico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    6. Anderson, D. Mark & Charles, Kerwin Kofi & Rees, Daniel I. & Wang, Tianyi, 2021. "Water purification efforts and the black‐white infant mortality gap, 1906–1938," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    7. Onur Altındağ & Jane Greve & Erdal Tekin, 2024. "Public Health Policy at Scale: Impact of a Government-Sponsored Information Campaign on Infant Mortality in Denmark," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 106(3), pages 882-893, May.
    8. James J. Feigenbaum & Christopher Muller & Elizabeth Wrigley-Field, 2019. "Regional and Racial Inequality in Infectious Disease Mortality in U.S. Cities, 1900–1948," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(4), pages 1371-1388, August.
    9. Michael Haylock & Martin Karlsson & Maksym Obrizan, 2024. "Pollution and Mortality: Evidence from early 20th Century Sweden," Papers 2412.01532, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2024.
    10. Lauren Hoehn‐Velasco & Elizabeth Wrigley‐Field, 2022. "City health departments, public health expenditures, and urban mortality over 1910–1940," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(2), pages 929-953, April.
    11. March, Raymond J. & Geloso, Vincent, 2020. "Gordon Tullock meets Phineas Gage: The political economy of lobotomies in the United States," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H51 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Health
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • N31 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • N32 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-

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