IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/cliomt/v12y2018i1d10.1007_s11698-016-0148-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Public health improvements and mortality in interwar Tokyo: a Bayesian disease mapping approach

Author

Listed:
  • Kota Ogasawara

    (Tokyo Institute of Technology)

  • Shinichiro Shirota

    (Duke University)

  • Genya Kobayashi

    (Chiba University)

Abstract

Recent studies have found that modern water supply systems played an important role in mitigating the mortality risks in major US cities in the early twentieth century. Modern water supply systems were installed also in Japanese cities during the interwar period. This study examines how the modern water supply system in Tokyo City reduced mortality risks in the interwar period. By employing a Bayesian disease mapping approach with a block-level lattice dataset of Tokyo for 1930, we found that wider access to purified water through water supply systems played an important role in mitigating mortality risks during the study period. Our estimation results show that clean water accounted for approximately 41.3 and 34.9 % of improvements in crude and child death rates, respectively, between 1921 and 1937 in Tokyo.

Suggested Citation

  • Kota Ogasawara & Shinichiro Shirota & Genya Kobayashi, 2018. "Public health improvements and mortality in interwar Tokyo: a Bayesian disease mapping approach," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 12(1), pages 1-31, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:cliomt:v:12:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s11698-016-0148-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s11698-016-0148-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11698-016-0148-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11698-016-0148-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gamper-Rabindran, Shanti & Khan, Shakeeb & Timmins, Christopher, 2010. "The impact of piped water provision on infant mortality in Brazil: A quantile panel data approach," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(2), pages 188-200, July.
    2. Chib, Siddhartha, 2001. "Markov chain Monte Carlo methods: computation and inference," Handbook of Econometrics, in: J.J. Heckman & E.E. Leamer (ed.), Handbook of Econometrics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 57, pages 3569-3649, Elsevier.
    3. Nathan Nunn & Nancy Qian, 2011. "The Potato's Contribution to Population and Urbanization: Evidence From A Historical Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(2), pages 593-650.
    4. Kesztenbaum, Lionel & Rosenthal, Jean-Laurent, 2017. "Sewers’ diffusion and the decline of mortality: The case of Paris, 1880–1914," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 174-186.
    5. James S. Hodges & Bradley P. Carlin & Qiao Fan, 2003. "On the Precision of the Conditionally Autoregressive Prior in Spatial Models," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 59(2), pages 317-322, June.
    6. Troesken, Werner, 2001. "Race, Disease, And The Provision Of Water In American Cities, 1889–1921," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 61(3), pages 750-776, September.
    7. Zhang, Jing, 2012. "The impact of water quality on health: Evidence from the drinking water infrastructure program in rural China," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 122-134.
    8. Bowblis, John R., 2010. "The Decline in Infant Death Rates, 1878–1913: The Role of Early Sickness Insurance Programs," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 70(01), pages 221-232, March.
    9. Kota Ogasawara & Genya Kobayashi, 2015. "The impact of social workers on infant mortality in inter-war Tokyo: Bayesian dynamic panel quantile regression with endogenous variables," Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 9(1), pages 97-130, January.
    10. Winegarden, C. R. & Murray, John E., 1998. "The Contributions of Early Health-Insurance Programs to Mortality Declines in Pre-World War I Europe: Evidence from Fixed-Effects Models," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 431-446, October.
    11. David Cutler & Grant Miller, 2005. "The role of public health improvements in health advances: The twentieth-century United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 42(1), pages 1-22, February.
    12. Winegarden, C. R. & Murray, John E., 2004. "Effects of early health-insurance programs on European mortality and fertility trends," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(10), pages 1825-1836, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Cuina Zhang & Ruobing Li & Yun Xia & Yixing Yuan & Hasan Dinçer & Serhat Yüksel, 2020. "Analysis of Environmental Activities for Developing Public Health Investments and Policies: A Comparative Study with Structure Equation and Interval Type 2 Fuzzy Hybrid Models," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-23, March.
    2. Anderson, D. Mark & Charles, Kerwin Kofi & Rees, Daniel I. & Wang, Tianyi, 2019. "Water Purification Efforts and the Black-White Infant Mortality Gap, 1906-1938," IZA Discussion Papers 12783, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Schneider, Eric B. & Ogasawara, Kota, 2018. "Disease and child growth in industrialising Japan: Critical windows and the growth pattern, 1917–39," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 64-80.
    4. Kota Ogasawara & Ian Gazeley & Eric B. Schneider, 2020. "Nutrition, Crowding, And Disease Among Low‐Income Households In Tokyo In 1930," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(1), pages 73-104, March.
    5. Tatsuki Inoue & Kota Ogasawara, 2018. "Chain effects of clean water: The Mills-Reincke phenomenon in early twentieth-century Japan," Papers 1805.00875, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2019.
    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. D. Mark Anderson & Kerwin Kofi Charles & Daniel I. Rees & Tianyi Wang, 2019. "Water Purification Efforts and the Black-White Infant Mortality Gap, 1906-1938," Working Papers 2019-075, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    8. Gallardo Albarrán, Daniel, 2024. "The Global Sanitary Revolution in Historical Perspective," CEPR Discussion Papers 18754, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. D. Mark Anderson & Kerwin Kofi Charles & Daniel I. Rees & Tianyi Wang, 2019. "Water Purification Efforts and the Black-White Infant Mortality Gap, 1906-1938," NBER Working Papers 26489, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Ogasawara, Kota & Matsushita, Yukitoshi, 2018. "Public health and multiple-phase mortality decline: Evidence from industrializing Japan," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 198-210.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Daniel Gallardo‐Albarrán, 2020. "Sanitary infrastructures and the decline of mortality in Germany, 1877–1913," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 73(3), pages 730-757, August.
    2. Stefan Bauernschuster & Anastasia Driva & Erik Hornung, 2020. "Bismarck’s Health Insurance and the Mortality Decline [Disease and Development: The Effect of Life Expectancy on Economic Growth]," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(5), pages 2561-2607.
    3. Hoehn-Velasco, Lauren, 2018. "Explaining declines in US rural mortality, 1910–1933: The role of county health departments," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 42-72.
    4. Ogasawara, Kota & Matsushita, Yukitoshi, 2018. "Public health and multiple-phase mortality decline: Evidence from industrializing Japan," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 198-210.
    5. Kota Ogasawara & Yukitoshi Matsushita, 2019. "Heterogeneous treatment effects of safe water on infectious disease: Do meteorological factors matter?," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 13(1), pages 55-82, January.
    6. D. Mark Anderson & Daniel I. Rees & Tianyi Wang, 2019. "The Phenomenon of Summer Diarrhea and its Waning, 1910-1930," NBER Working Papers 25689, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Knutsson, Daniel, 2020. "The Effect of Water Filtration on Cholera Mortality," Working Paper Series 1346, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    8. Anderson, D. Mark & Rees, Daniel I. & Wang, Tianyi, 2019. "The Phenomenon of Summer Diarrhea and Its Waning, 1910-1930," IZA Discussion Papers 12232, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Jonathan Chapman, 2019. "The contribution of infrastructure investment to Britain's urban mortality decline, 1861–1900," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 72(1), pages 233-259, February.
    10. Li, Li & Xiao, Yun, 2023. "Beyond boiling: The effect of in utero exposure to treated tap water on childhood health," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    11. Tatsuki Inoue & Kota Ogasawara, 2018. "Chain effects of clean water: The Mills-Reincke phenomenon in early twentieth-century Japan," Papers 1805.00875, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2019.
    12. Keya Sengupta, 2016. "Water and health for sustainable development," African Journal of Economic and Sustainable Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 5(1), pages 66-101.
    13. Li, Yuanzhe & Xi, Tianyang & Zhou, Li-An, 2024. "Drinking water facilities and inclusive development: Evidence from Rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    14. Gallardo Albarrán, Daniel, 2024. "The Global Sanitary Revolution in Historical Perspective," CEPR Discussion Papers 18754, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Gabriella Conti, 2013. "The Developmental Origins of Health Inequality," Research on Economic Inequality, in: Health and Inequality, volume 21, pages 285-309, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    16. Brainerd, Elizabeth & Menon, Nidhiya, 2014. "Seasonal effects of water quality: The hidden costs of the Green Revolution to infant and child health in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 49-64.
    17. 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).
    18. Toke S. Aidt & Romola J. Davenport & Felix Gray, 2023. "New perspectives on the contribution of sanitary investments to mortality decline in English cities, 1845–1909," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(2), pages 624-660, May.
    19. Yasuharu SHIMAMURA & Hiroshi NISHINO & Hirofumi TSURUTA & Keitaro AOYAGI, 2017. "Effect of Groundwater Development Project on Diarrhea Incidence in Rural Zambia," GSICS Working Paper Series 31, Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies, Kobe University.
    20. Alberto Batinti & Joan Costa‐Font & Timothy J. Hatton, 2022. "Voting Up? The Effects of Democracy and Franchise Extension on Human Stature," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(353), pages 161-190, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bayesian disease mapping; Public health; Modern water supply system; Mortality rates;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C11 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Bayesian Analysis: General
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • N35 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Asia including Middle East

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:cliomt:v:12:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s11698-016-0148-3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.