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: Received wisdom versus reality: height, nutrition, and urbanization in mid-nineteenth-century France

Author

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  • Laurent Heyberger

    (UTBM, Belfort, France)

Abstract

Since the pioneering study of Le Roy Ladurie and his team, the idea that mean height can be considered as a reliable indicator of the standard of living has emerged from a long debate among historians and economists. Considering height in this respect, nineteenth-century France, unlike most Western countries, did not pay an urban penalty. Thanks to a substantial set of individual data (105,324 observations), based on the draft lottery of Frenchmen born in the year 1848, we are able to prove that this “French exception” did not, in fact, exist. The larger the town, the shorter were the conscripts. Among the towns, Paris had the shortest conscripts. By combining individual data with the agricultural survey of 1852, we are able to identify those factors that compensated for this urban penalty-that were positively correlated with height: nutritional availability, the literacy rate, and life expectancy.

Suggested Citation

  • Laurent Heyberger, 2014. ": Received wisdom versus reality: height, nutrition, and urbanization in mid-nineteenth-century France," Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 8(1), pages 115-140, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:afc:cliome:v:8:y:2014:i:1:p:115-140
    DOI: 10.1007/s11698-013-0095-1
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Adolfo Meisel-Roca & María Teresa Ramírez-Giraldo & Daniela Santos-Cárdenas, 2018. "Socioeconomic Determinants and Spatial Convergence of Biological Well-being: The Case of Physical Stature in Colombia, 1920-1990," Borradores de Economia 1053, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    2. Tassenaar, Vincent, 2019. "Development of regional variety of the biological standard of living in the Netherlands, 1812–1913," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 151-161.
    3. Meisel-Roca, Adolfo & Ramírez-Giraldo, María Teresa & Santos-Cárdenas, Daniela, 2019. "Long run relationship between biological well being, and economic development in Colombia," Working papers 24, Red Investigadores de Economía.
    4. Linares-Luján, Antonio M. & Parejo-Moruno, Francisco M., 2022. "Short men in poor lands: The agrarian workers from southwestern Spain in anthropometric perspective," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    5. Michel Hau, 2017. "SFour Decades of Study on Growth Disparities across Regions in France: Achievements and Prospects," Working Papers 09-17, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC).
    6. Mitsui, Takahiro, 2023. "Urban height penalty during early industrialized periods was not observed in the 1928–1929 conscript inspection data in Iwate Prefecture," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    7. Arsenault Morin, Alex & Geloso, Vincent & Kufenko, Vadim, 2017. "The heights of French-Canadian convicts, 1780s–1820s," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 126-136.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Height; France; Urbanisation; Nutrition; Anthropometrics; Biological standard of living;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • N33 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N93 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products

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