Sibship Size, Height and Cohort Selection: A Methodological Approach

This article deals with the historical relationship between the number of siblings in a family or household and height, a proxy for biological living standards. Ideally, this relationship is better assessed when we have evidence on the exact number of siblings in a family from its constitution onwards. However, this generally requires applying family reconstitution techniques, which, unfortunately, is not always possible. In this latter case, scholars must generally settle for considering only particular benchmark years using population censuses, from which family and household structures are derived. These data are then linked to the height data for the young males of the family or household. Height data are generally obtained from military records. In this matching process, several decisions have to be taken, which, in turn, are determined by source availability and the number of available observations. Using data from late 19th-century Catalonia, we explore whether the methodology used in matching population censuses and military records as described above might affect the relationship between sibship size and biological living standards and, if so, to what extent. We conclude that, while contextual factors cannot be neglected, the methodological decisions made in the initial steps of research also play a role in assessing this relationship.

Biological Living Standards of Korea during the Port-Opening Period, 1876–1910

After several hundred years of a closed-door policy, Korea finally opened its ports in 1876. Historians have traditionally claimed that the port-opening was coerced by foreign countries, deteriorated the Korean economy, and led to Korea becoming a colony. We examined this view by measuring biological living standards and find the opposite. The height of the male Hangryu Deceased, who died on the street but whose bodies were not claimed, increased by 1.1 cm from the 1880s to the 1910s. This also implies that free trade rather than new institutions might matter more for economic growth during the colonial era.

Global Perspectives on Economics and Biology

This chapter traces global trends in physical stature from the Neolithic Agricultural Revolution to modern times. Major cycles in nutritional status and the biological standard of living can be documented across the course of human history as the amount and quality of nutrition changed. In addition, inequality of living standards increased in the more stratified societies that came into being after the Agricultural Revolution. A second major transformation of living standards began with the Industrial Revolution, putting strain on the biological living standards of many populations, especially when accompanied by population growth, market integration, and rising inequality. A rapid increase in physical stature began in Europe only after the 1870s, about a century after the beginning of modern economic growth. Global studies on height inequality indicate a long-run decline of inequality during the late 19th and early 20th century in Europe. Inequality trends are related to important societal-level outcomes.

East Asia on the Rise

Body mass index, weight, and stature are reliable indicators of biological living standards. Although most studies in anthropometric history focus on Western nations, East Asian countries are of great interest as well because one-fifth of the world’s population lives in this region. This chapter reviews studies that focus on the anthropometric history of China, Japan, and Korea. Although the anthropometric measurements of contemporary urban Chinese equal those of Japan and South Korea, its rural population lags far behind. However, their anthropometric status is superior to that of North Korea, which has the worst economic performance in East Asia. Differences between the two Koreas cannot be explained by genetic predispositions alone. Japan’s anthropometrics have not matched its increasing economic power, but the quantity and quality of food intake in Japan differs from that of the rest of East Asia, suggesting that differences in food culture may account for these variations.

RACIAL DIFFERENCES IN BODY MASS INDICES FOR MALE CONVICTS IN NINETEENTH CENTURY PENNSYLVANIA

SummaryThis paper demonstrates that although modern BMIs have increased, 19th century Middle-Atlantic black and white BMIs were in the normal range; neither underweight nor obese individuals were common. Farmers’ BMIs were consistently heavier than non-farmers. Philadelphia residents’ BMIs were lower than elsewhere within Pennsylvania, indicating that urbanization and agricultural commercialization were associated with current biological living standards in urbanized areas.