Biological Measures of the Standard of Living

Abstract

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.

Colonial Origins of Inequality in Hispanic America? Some Reflections Based on New Empirical Evidence

“…Komlos and Baten 2004;Steckel 1995Steckel , 2008Steckel , 2009 Mexico and Salvatore (1998) and Salvatore and Baten (1998) on the late viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata). Therefore, it is necessary to widen the time and space dimensions of the colonial Hispanic American sample of height.…”

Social inequality and the biological standard of living: An anthropometric analysis of Swiss conscription data, 1875–1950

“…Aside from the war-induced decline, GDP per capita and real wages continue to increase steadily until the 1930s and are almost stationary during World War II. In addition annual infant mortality rates 21 for the cities of Basel and Zurich and for the predominantly rural canton of Bern indicate a biological component of the standard of living (Steckel, 2008). Infant mortality rate was lower in the rural canton of Bern until about 1900, but the annual pattern shows less of a decrease than that experienced by Basel and Zurich (Figure 1).…”

“…Average height is conceptualized as the "biological standard of living", highlighting the distinction from common (usually monetary) concepts of the standard of living (Komlos, 1987(Komlos, , 1989(Komlos, , 1994. The average adult height of a population serves as a measure of the population's nutritional status from birth through adolescence (including episodes of deprivation and catch-up growth), reflecting environmental conditions (Eveleth and Tanner, 1990;Bogin, 1999;Steckel, 2008). 4 Nutritional status is defined as the balance among the intake of nutrients, the epidemiological environment, and claims on nutrient intake, which stem from the basic maintenance (metabolic rate), and from energy consumption for occupational and discretionary activities (Eveleth and Tanner, 1990;Kim, 2000).…”

On the use of palynological data in economic history: New methods and an application to agricultural output in Central Europe, 0–2000AD

“…As a consequence, various researchers aim to collect and analyze data from non-standard sources which could serve as a proxy for human activity. For example, skeletal remains are now routinely used as a source of data about the evolution of human health (Steckel, 2003;Baten, 2005, 2008;Steckel, 2008Steckel, , 2013.…”