IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/aut/wpaper/201905.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Body Sizes in Nineteenth Century New Zealand: An Empirical Investigation using the NZ Contingents in the Second Boer war

Author

Listed:
  • Geoffrey Brooke

    (School of Economics, AUT University)

  • Lydia Cheung

    (School of Economics, AUT University)

Abstract

In this paper we report on the heights and weights of New Zealand soldiers who served in the Second Boer War (1899-1902). Adult heights are widely used as evidence on the standard of living. Interpreted as such, our results support the view that the standard of living in New Zealand was among the highest in the world at the turn of the twentieth century. One problem in using the heights of soldiers to make inferences about the population is the reliance on self-reported ages. When we use self-reported ages in our analysis we find that the youngest soldiers are also the shortest. This finding is common in the literature, and has been interpreted as evidence for a general decline in the standard of living. To explore the implication of using reported ages, we match 53% of the soldiers in our sample to their birth records to establish their true age. We document that young soldiers exaggerate their age and old soldiers under-state their age. When we use true ages in our analysis, the apparent shortness of the youngest soldiers disappears.

Suggested Citation

  • Geoffrey Brooke & Lydia Cheung, 2019. "Body Sizes in Nineteenth Century New Zealand: An Empirical Investigation using the NZ Contingents in the Second Boer war," Working Papers 2019-05, Auckland University of Technology, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:aut:wpaper:201905
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.aut.ac.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/258536/workingpaper_2019_05.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Inklaar, Robert & de Jong, Harmen & Bolt, Jutta & van Zanden, Jan, 2018. "Rebasing 'Maddison': new income comparisons and the shape of long-run economic development," GGDC Research Memorandum GD-174, Groningen Growth and Development Centre, University of Groningen.
    2. Nordhaus, William D, 1997. "Traditional Productivity Estimates Are Asleep at the (Technological) Switch," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(444), pages 1548-1559, September.
    3. Pamela Sharpe, 2012. "Explaining the short stature of the poor: chronic childhood disease and growth in nineteenth-century England," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 65(4), pages 1475-1494, November.
    4. Richard H. Steckel & Roderick Floud, 1997. "Introduction to "Health and Welfare during Industrialization"," NBER Chapters, in: Health and Welfare during Industrialization, pages 1-16, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Ian W. Mclean, 2004. "Australian Economic Growth in Historical Perspective," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 80(250), pages 330-345, September.
    6. Feinstein, Charles H., 1998. "Pessimism Perpetuated: Real Wages and the Standard of Living in Britain during and after the Industrial Revolution," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 58(3), pages 625-658, September.
    7. Komlos, John, 1998. "Shrinking in a Growing Economy? The Mystery of Physical Stature during the Industrial Revolution," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 58(03), pages 779-802, September.
    8. Bodenhorn, Howard & Guinnane, Timothy W. & Mroz, Thomas A., 2017. "Sample-Selection Biases and the Industrialization Puzzle," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 77(1), pages 171-207, March.
    9. Steckel, Richard H., 1986. "A Peculiar Population: The Nutrition, Health, and Mortality of American Slaves from Childhood to Maturity," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(3), pages 721-741, September.
    10. Richard H. Steckel & Roderick Floud, 1997. "Health and Welfare during Industrialization," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number stec97-1.
    11. Shlomowitz, Ralph, 2007. "Did the mean height of Australian-born men decline in the late nineteenth century? A comment," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 484-488, December.
    12. Floud,Roderick & Fogel,Robert W. & Harris,Bernard & Hong,Sok Chul, 2011. "The Changing Body," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521705615, October.
      • Floud,Roderick & Fogel,Robert W. & Harris,Bernard & Hong,Sok Chul, 2011. "The Changing Body," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521879750, October.
    13. Roderick Floud & Robert W. Fogel & Bernard Harris & Sok Chul Hong, 2011. "The Changing Body: Health, Nutrition, and Human Development in the Western World since 1700," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number foge10-1.
    14. Robert W. Fogel & Nathaniel Grotte, 2011. "An Overview of The Changing Body: Health, Nutrition, and Human Development in the Western World Since 1700," NBER Working Papers 16938, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Whitwell & Christine de Souza & Stephen Nicholas, 1997. "Height, Health, and Economic Growth in Australia, 1860-1940," NBER Chapters, in: Health and Welfare during Industrialization, pages 379-422, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Lars Sandberg & Richard H. Steckel, 1997. "Was Industrialization Hazardous to Your Health? Not in Sweden!," NBER Chapters, in: Health and Welfare during Industrialization, pages 127-160, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. McLean, Ian W. & Pincus, Jonathan J., 1983. "Did Australian Living Standards Stagnate between 1890 and 1940?," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(1), pages 193-202, March.
    18. Dora L. Costa, 2015. "Health and the Economy in the United States from 1750 to the Present," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 53(3), pages 503-570, September.
    19. Kris Inwood & Evan Roberts, 2010. "Longitudinal Studies Of Human Growth And Health: A Review Of Recent Historical Research," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 801-840, December.
    20. repec:bla:revinw:v:46:y:2000:i:3:p:351-68 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Kris Inwood & Les Oxley & Evan Roberts, 2010. "Physical Stature In Nineteenth‐Century New Zealand: A Preliminary Interpretation," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 50(3), pages 262-283, November.
    22. Cranfield, John & Inwood, Kris, 2007. "The great transformation: A long-run perspective on physical well-being in Canada," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 204-228, July.
    23. Stanley L. Engerman, 1997. "The Standard of Living Debate in International Perspective: Measures and Indicators," NBER Chapters, in: Health and Welfare during Industrialization, pages 17-46, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. David Greasley & Les Oxley, 2000. "Measuring New Zealand'S Gdp 1865–1933: A Cointegration‐Based Approach," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 46(3), pages 351-368, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Steckel, Richard H., 2009. "Heights and human welfare: Recent developments and new directions," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 1-23, January.
    2. Bernard Harris, 2021. "Anthropometric history and the measurement of wellbeing," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 19(1), pages 91-123.
    3. Ramon Ramon-Muñoz & Josep-Maria Ramon-Muñoz, 2015. "Height and Industrialisation in a City in Catalonia during the Nineteenth Century," UB School of Economics Working Papers 2015/334, University of Barcelona School of Economics.
    4. Blum, Matthias & McLaughlin, Eoin, 2019. "Living standards and inequality in the industrial revolution: Evidence from the height of University of Edinburgh students in the 1830s," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 185-192.
    5. Galofré-Vilà, Gregori, 2018. "Growth and maturity: A quantitative systematic review and network analysis in anthropometric history," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 107-118.
    6. 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.
    7. José Cañabate-Cabezuelos & José M. Martínez-Carrión, 2016. "Poverty and rural height penalty in inland Spain during the nutrition transition," Documentos de Trabajo de la Sociedad de Estudios de Historia Agraria 1604, Sociedad de Estudios de Historia Agraria.
    8. Komlos, John, 2019. "Shrinking in a growing economy is not so puzzling after all," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 40-55.
    9. José Joaquín García-Gómez & Antonio Escudero Gutierrez, 2018. "The Standard of Living of the Workers in a Spanish Industrial Town: Wages, Nutrition, Life Expentancy and Heigth in Alcoy (1870–1930)," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 347-367, November.
    10. Kris Inwood & Les Oxley & Evan Roberts, 2008. "Physical stature and its interpretation in nineteenth century New Zealand," Working Papers in Economics 08/22, University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance.
    11. José M. Martínez-Carrión & Pedro M. Pérez-Castroviejo & Javier Puche-Gil & Josep M. Ramon-Muñoz, 2014. "Living standards and rural-urban height gap during the early stages of modern economic growth in Spain," Documentos de Trabajo de la Sociedad de Estudios de Historia Agraria 1410, Sociedad de Estudios de Historia Agraria.
    12. 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.
    13. Komlos, John, 2012. "A Three-Decade “Kuhnian” History of the Antebellum Puzzle: Explaining the shrinking of the US population at the onset of modern economic growth," Discussion Papers in Economics 12758, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    14. Antonio M. Linares-Luján & Francisco M. Parejo-Moruno, 2021. "Rural Height Penalty or Socioeconomic Penalization? The Nutritional Inequality in Backward Spain," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-25, April.
    15. Robert C. Allen, 2015. "The high wage economy and the industrial revolution: a restatement," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 68(1), pages 1-22, February.
    16. Dora L. Costa, 2015. "Health and the Economy in the United States from 1750 to the Present," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 53(3), pages 503-570, September.
    17. Elizabeth Frankenberg & Jessica Y. Ho & Duncan Thomas, 2015. "Biological Health Risks and Economic Development," NBER Working Papers 21277, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Scott A. Carson, 2020. "Biological Differences between Late 19th and Early 20th Century Urban and Rural Residence," CESifo Working Paper Series 8523, CESifo.
    19. Baten, Joerg & Pelger, Ines & Twrdek, Linda, 2009. "The anthropometric history of Argentina, Brazil and Peru during the 19th and early 20th century," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 319-333, December.
    20. Bodenhorn, Howard & Guinnane, Timothy & Mroz, Thomas, 2013. "Problems of Sample-selection Bias in the Historical Heights Literature: A Theoretical and Econometric Analysis," Center Discussion Papers 148749, Yale University, Economic Growth Center.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    stature; Second Boer War; historic birth records; nineteenth century New Zealand;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • N37 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Africa; Oceania

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:aut:wpaper:201905. 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: Gail Pacheco (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fbautnz.html .

    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.