The Net Effect of Railroads on Stature in the Postbellum Period

Abstract

This study utilizes a different approach to examine the effect of transportation on the average height of people in the postbellum period, simply by modeling the change in the marketable surplus of protein. The results show that railroad development had a positive effect on average height from 1867 to 1887, and after this period, its effect was negligible. This study suggests that the factors with negative effects – such as urbanization, industrialization, and infectious diseases – dominated the positive effects of railroad development leading actual average height to decrease from 1867 to 1887.

Citation

Guven Solakoglu, E. (2006), "The Net Effect of Railroads on Stature in the Postbellum Period", Field, A.J., Clark, G. and Sundstrom, W.A. (Ed.) Research in Economic History (Research in Economic History, Vol. 24), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 105-117. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0363-3268(06)24003-5