Living standards and inequality in the industrial revolution: Evidence from the height of University of Edinburgh students in the 1830s

Blum, Matthias; McLaughlin, Eoin

doi:10.1016/j.ehb.2019.07.004

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 51 publications

(55 reference statements)

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“…In recent times, anthropometric measures have been used as indicators to evaluate the net nutritional status and explore inequality in historical populations [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]. Economic historians study the relationship between height and body mass index (BMI) and the different socioeconomic contexts since the Industrial Revolution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological Well-Being and Inequality in Canary Islands: Lanzarote (Cohorts 1886–1982)

Candela-Martínez

Martínez-Carrión

Cervantes

2021

IJERPH

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Developments in anthropometric history in the Iberian Peninsula have been remarkable in recent decades. In contrast, we barely know about the behavior of insular population groups and infants’ and adults’ growth during the nutritional transition in the Canary Islands. This paper analyzes the height, weight and body mass index of military recruits (conscripts) in a rural municipality from the eastern Canaries during the economic modernization process throughout the 20th century. The case study (municipality of San Bartolomé (SB) in Lanzarote, the island closest to the African continent) uses anthropometric data of military recruits from 1907–2001 (cohorts from 1886 to 1982). The final sample is composed of 1921 recruits’ records that were measured and weighed at the ages of 19–21 years old when adolescent growth had finished. The long-term anthropometric study is carried out using two approaches: a malnutrition and growth retardation approach and an inequality perspective. In the first one, we use the methodology recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) that is based on z-scores. In the second one, we implement several inequality dimensions such as the coefficient of variation (CV), percentiles and an analysis for height and BMI evolution by five socioeconomic categories. The data suggest that improvements in biological well-being were due to advances in nutrition since the 1960s. They show that infant nutrition is sensitively associated with economic growth and demographic and epidemiological changes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological Well-Being and Inequality in Canary Islands: Lanzarote (Cohorts 1886–1982)

Candela-Martínez

Martínez-Carrión

Cervantes

2021

IJERPH

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“…This can be observed through the mean value of the readiness construct (

= 6.38; σ = 1.18) and its predicting factors, which are respectively low and highly variable. From this, the low usage of key contemporary management tools [ 19 , 31 ], and the problems with technological implementation in general [ 1 , 4 , 7 ] we can speculate that this is far from worldwide revolutionary changes in the way that the economy operates, and it might take decades to evolve into industrial revolution [ 121 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Speeding Up the Implementation of Industry 4.0 with Management Tools: Empirical Investigations in Manufacturing Organizations

Črešnar

Potočan

Nedelko

2020

Sensors

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The main purpose of this study is to examine how the use of management tools supports the readiness of manufacturing organizations for the implementation of Industry 4.0. The originality of the research is reflected in the exploration of the relationship between the use of the selected well-known management tools and their readiness for the implementation of Industry 4.0, which was assessed using a combination of two models—one developed by the National Academy of Science and Engineering (Acatech) and the other by the University of Warwick. The relationship was assessed by applying structural equation modeling techniques to a data set of 323 responses from employees in manufacturing organizations. The results show that the use of six sigma, total quality management, radio frequency identification, a balanced scorecard, rapid prototyping, customer segmentation, mission and vision statements, and digital transformation is positively associated with Industry 4.0 readiness. Inversely, outsourcing and strategic planning are negatively associated with Industry 4.0 readiness, while lean manufacturing, which is often emphasized as the cornerstone of Industry 4.0 implementation, is not associated with Industry 4.0 readiness in our study. These findings can help organizations to understand how to consider and measure readiness for the implementation of Industry 4.0 more comprehensively and present guidelines on how the use of management tools in manufacturing organizations can foster their implementation of Industry 4.0 principles.

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“…40 Recently, Blum and McLaughlin use a rediscovered dataset from an experiment measuring the height of University of Edinburgh students in the 1830s, but find little evidence of Malthusian pressures foreshadowing the Famine. 41 The study by Forbes 42 from which the data originate was later cited by Kane as evidence that 'when at all well fed, there is no race more perfectly developed, as to physical conformation, than the inhabitants of Ireland'. 43 Kane in turn is cited by Mokyr and Ó Gráda.…”

Section: Review Of Anthropometric Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anthropometric History: Revisiting What’s in it for Ireland

McLaughlin

Colvin²,

Blum

2020

Irish Economic and Social History

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This research note updates Cormac Ó Gráda’s (1996) critical review of the literature on the connection between the stature of the Irish, on the one hand, and their health and living standards, on the other. We find most of the anthropometric data sets used in this literature pertain to Irish emigrants rather than those who stayed behind. We therefore argue prison registers are a more appropriate source of anthropometric information. But results derived from these registers need to be handled with caution as prisoners are a selected population. We uncover the various observable selection biases inherent in prison data and track how they change across the second half of the nineteenth century. We find changes in selection into crime across time are more likely to have been due to institutional rather than economic factors.

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Living standards and inequality in the industrial revolution: Evidence from the height of University of Edinburgh students in the 1830s

Cited by 10 publications

References 51 publications

Biological Well-Being and Inequality in Canary Islands: Lanzarote (Cohorts 1886–1982)

Biological Well-Being and Inequality in Canary Islands: Lanzarote (Cohorts 1886–1982)

Speeding Up the Implementation of Industry 4.0 with Management Tools: Empirical Investigations in Manufacturing Organizations

Anthropometric History: Revisiting What’s in it for Ireland

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