Biological Measures of the Standard of Living
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4029660 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Richard H Steckel (Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, and Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts., corresponding author) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 129-152 |
| Publication date | 2008-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Economic Perspectives (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0895-3309 • E-ISSN: 1944-7965 |
| Publisher | American Economic Association (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1257/jep.22.1.129 |
| PMID | 19771661 |
| OpenAlex | W1971102482 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 109 |
| References cited | 33 |
When economists investigate long-term trends and socioeconomic differences in the standard of living or quality of life, they have traditionally focused on monetary measures such as gross domestic product-which has occupied center stage for over 50 years. In recent decades, however, scholars have increasingly recognized the limitations of monetary measures while seeking useful alternatives. This essay examines the unique and valuable contributions of four biological measures-life expectancy, morbidity, stature, and certain features of skeletal remains-to understand levels and changes in human well-being. People desire far more than material goods and in fact they are quite willing to trade or give up material things in return for better physical or psychological health. For most people, health is so important to their quality of life that it is useful to refer to the "biological standard of living." Biological measures may be especially valuable for historical studies and for other research circumstances where monetary measures are thin or lacking. A concluding section ruminates on the future evolution of biological approaches in measuring happiness
Standard of living · Climate Change and Health Impacts · Global Health Care Issues
Height as an Indicator of Economic Status in the Polish Territories Under Russian Rule at the Turn of the 19th to 20th Century
Socioeconomic Differences in Child Mortality in Central Poland at the End of the Nineteenth Century
Influence of maternal height on children’s health status and mortality
“An Injurious and Utterly Unfit Environment”
Standard of Living, Consumption, and Political Economy Over the Past 500 Years
The Family, the Market or the State?
The Roman world at the time of Marcus Aurelius
A forum on trade
Manufacturing
Predation
The contribution of economics
Slavery
Money and finance
Contract labor
Approaching the Roman economy
Transport
Adult Height and Childhood Disease
Association of Maternal Stature With Offspring Mortality, Underweight, and Stunting in Low- to Middle-Income Countries
Association of Maternal Height With Child Mortality, Anthropometric Failure, and Anemia in India
Human Capital and Industrialization
A review of the evidence linking child stunting to economic outcomes
Early-Life Health and Adult Circumstance in Developing Countries
The Oxford Handbook of the Italian Economy Since Unification
Breaking the misery wheel? Fertility control, social mobility, and biological well-being in rural Spain (1835–1959)
The impact of health on labour market outcomes
The effect of height on family formation in rural Spain, birth-cohorts 1835–1975
Centers of control
The diminution of the physical stature of the English male population in the eighteenth century
Zvláštní raně středověké hroby objevené ve Starém Městě – „Na Valách“ a problém jejich interpretace
Introduction
Physical Stature in Nineteenth‐century New Zealand
Growing Incomes, Growing People in Nineteenth‐Century T asmania
The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Economy
Height and Climate in Mediterranean Spain, 1850-1949
Reassessing the Standard of Living in the Soviet Union
Revisiting the relationship between height and lifespan in an urban setting
Secular change in adult stature of modern G reeks
Postfamine stature and socioeconomic status in Ireland
Engaging bodies in the public imagination
Good, Bad, and Ugly Colonial Activities
Diachronic Height Changes in Europe From the Mesolithic to the Present
The decline in the physical stature of the U.S. population parallels the diminution in the rate of increase in life expectancy
Height, Nutritional and Economic Inequality in Central Spain, 1837–1936
Rethinking the Fertility Transition in Rural Aragón (Spain) Using Height Data
The trade-off between a high and an equal biological standard of living—Evidence from Germany
Have Swiss adult males and females stopped growing taller? Evidence from the population-based nutrition survey menuCH, 2014/2015
The relationship between height and economic development in Spain, 1850–1958
The height gap in 19th-century America
Social inequality and the biological standard of living
Height and BMI values of German conscripts in 2000, 2001 and 1906
The changing relationship between bodyweight and longevity in high- and low-income countries
The recent decline in the height of African-American women
The association between male height and lifespan in rural Spain, birth cohorts 1835-1939
Health trends in Sub-Saharan Africa
Are chronic diseases related to height? Results from the Portuguese National Health Interview Survey
Stature in 19th and early 20th century Copenhagen. A comparative study based on skeletal remains
The height and BMI values of West Point cadets after the Civil War
Shrinking in a growing economy is not so puzzling after all
The gender gap in the biological living standard in Spain. A study based on the heights of an elite migration to Mexico, 1840-1930
Inferring the economic standard of living and health from cohort height
Transgenerational effects of childhood conditions on third generation health and education outcomes
Long-term changes of socioeconomic differences in height among young adult men in Southern Sweden, 1818–1968
Age at menarche in Polish University students born before, during and after World War II
The physical well-being of Indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest
Determinants of height and biological inequality in Mediterranean Spain, 1859–1967
Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Physical Activity and Calories by Gender and Race
Poverty and Physical Well-being among the Coloured Population in South Africa
Tall Farmers and Tiny Weavers. Rural Living Standards and Heights in Flanders, 1830-1870
The Generalized Low-Quality Syndrome
The Happiness of Nations
Does parental migration have long-term health effects on children in later life? Evidence from rural China
Anthropometric traits at military medical examinations associated with demographic family characteristics in Sardinia at the turn of twentieth century
Physical growth and ethnic inequality in New Zealand prisons, 1840–1975
Family structure and childhood anthropometry in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1918
Childhood growth and socioeconomic outcomes in early adulthood evidence from the inter-war United States
Nostalgia for the old country—A histological exploration of early childhood physiological stress experiences in colonial Otago, New Zealand
Challenges in Approaches to Skeletal Stature Estimation
Hard Labor and Hostile Encounters
The Slaughter of the Bison and Reversal of Fortunes on the Great Plains
Consequences of income concentration for democratic processes in contemporary Western and comparable societies
Colonial Origins of Inequality in Hispanic America? Some Reflections Based on New Empirical Evidence
Socio-Economic Determinants and Spatial Convergence of Biological Well-Being
The Incredible Shrinking Black Woman
Measuring living standards from the lowest
Access to kin, economic stress, and late-life mortality in North Orkney, Scotland, 1851–1911
Heights and human welfare
On the use of palynological data in economic history
Instrumental Variable Estimation of the Causal Effect of Hunger Early in Life on Health Later in Life
Ancient‐to‐modern secular changes in Korean stature
Aspects of health in prehistoric mainland Southeast Asia
Sex differences in diet and life conditions in a rural Medieval Islamic population from Spain (La Torrecilla, Granada)
Human stature in the Near East and Europe ca. 10,000–1000 BC
Restoring their Identity—Archaeology, Ethnography, and the Missing PoWs of Stalag VIII B (344) Lamsdorf
Height, Income and Voting
Economic inequality and political democracy reconsidered
Analyzing the effects of the Spanish Civil War on biological well-being through new anthropometric indicators
Conservación de restos óseos prehispánicos en el Eje Cafetero, Colombia
Borders That Divide
Early life effects across the life course
Fathers' Employment and Sons' Stature
Worldwide Variation in Human Growth
Health and Welfare during Industrialization
The Penn World Table (Mark 5)
The Backbone of History
The Modern Rise of Population
The Demographic Transition
Postfamine stature and socioeconomic status in Ireland
Making Health Work
The trade-off between a high and an equal biological standard of living—Evidence from Germany
Height and BMI values of German conscripts in 2000, 2001 and 1906
Growth depression and recovery
Height and Per Capita Income
Percentiles of Modern Height Standards for Use in Historical Research
The Methods and Materials of Demography
Understanding the twentieth-century decline in chronic conditions among older men
A theory of technophysio evolution, with some implications for forecasting population, health care costs, and pension costs
Will Developing Country Nutrition Improve with Income? A Case Study for Rural South India
Shrinking in a Growing Economy? The Mystery of Physical Stature during the Industrial Revolution
A Peculiar Population
The Escape from Hunger and Premature Death, 1700-2100
Overpopulation and malnutrition rediscovered
Essays in the Economics of Health and Medical Care
The Heights of American Slaves
Tallest in the World
The Determinants of Mortality
Demographic Transition Theory
Developments in the Measurement of Subjective Well-Being
The Demographic Transition
The Biological Standard of Living on Three Continents
| Unique citing works | 109 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 6,06 |
| Citation span | 2008 - 2026 (19) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | Yes |
| Citation types | Neutral: 105 |