Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ehl/lserod/113745.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Does democracy make taller men? Cross-country European evidence

Author

Listed:
  • Batinti, Alberto
  • Costa-Font, Joan
Abstract
We study whether a democracy improves a measure of individual wellbeing: human heights. Drawing on individual-level datasets, we test the democracy and height hypothesis using a battery of eight different measures of democracy and we account for several potential confounders, regional and cohort fixed effects. We document that democracy – or its quality during early childhood – shows a strong and positive conditional correlation with male, but not female, adult stature. Our preferred estimates suggest that being born in a democracy increases average male stature from a minimum of 1.33 to a maximum of 2.4 cm. We also show a positive association when democracy increases from childhood to adolescence, and when we adopt measures of existing democratic capital before birth, and at the end of height plasticity in early adulthood. We also document that democracy is associated with a reduction in inequality of heights distribution. Our estimates are driven by period-specific heterogeneity, namely, early democratizations are associated with taller people more than later ones. Results are robust to the inclusion of countries exposed to communism.

Suggested Citation

  • Batinti, Alberto & Costa-Font, Joan, 2022. "Does democracy make taller men? Cross-country European evidence," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 113745, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:113745
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/113745/
    File Function: Open access version.
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lippmann, Quentin & Senik, Claudia, 2018. "Math, girls and socialism," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 874-888.
    2. Komlos, John & Baur, Marieluise, 2004. "From the tallest to (one of) the fattest: the enigmatic fate of the American population in the 20th century," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 57-74, March.
    3. Bielecki, Emily M. & Haas, Jere D. & Hulanicka, Barbara, 2012. "Secular changes in the height of Polish schoolboys from 1955 to 1988," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 310-317.
    4. Garner, Thesia I & Terrell, Katherine, 1998. "A Gini Decomposition Analysis of Inequality in the Czech and Slovak Republics during the Transition," CEPR Discussion Papers 1897, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Alberto Alesina & Paola Giuliano & Nathan Nunn, 2013. "On the Origins of Gender Roles: Women and the Plough," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 128(2), pages 469-530.
    6. Torsten Persson & Guido Tabellini, 2009. "Democratic Capital: The Nexus of Political and Economic Change," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(2), pages 88-126, July.
    7. Quentin Lippmann & Claudia Senik, 2018. "Math, Girls and Socialism," Working Papers halshs-01387272, HAL.
    8. Machado, José A.F. & Santos Silva, J.M.C., 2019. "Quantiles via moments," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 213(1), pages 145-173.
    9. Matthew A. Baum & David A. Lake, 2003. "The Political Economy of Growth: Democracy and Human Capital," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 47(2), pages 333-347, April.
    10. Adsera, Alicia & Dalla Pozza, Francesca & Guriev, Sergei & Kleine-Rueschkamp, Lukas & Nikolova, Elena, 2019. "Transition from Plan to Market, Height and Well-Being," IZA Discussion Papers 12658, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Carlos Bozzoli & Climent Quintana-Domeque, 2014. "The Weight of the Crisis: Evidence From Newborns in Argentina," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 96(3), pages 550-562, July.
    12. Przeworski, Adam, 2009. "Conquered or Granted? A History of Suffrage Extensions," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 39(2), pages 291-321, April.
    13. Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson, 2000. "Why Did the West Extend the Franchise? Democracy, Inequality, and Growth in Historical Perspective," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(4), pages 1167-1199.
    14. repec:bla:germec:v:4:y:2003:i::p:459-473 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Quentin Lippmann & Alexandre Georgieff & Claudia Senik, 2020. "Undoing Gender with Institutions: Lessons from the German Division and Reunification," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 130(629), pages 1445-1470.
    16. Troesken, Werner, 2015. "The Pox of Liberty," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226922171, April.
    17. Goldin, Claudia & Lleras-Muney, Adriana, 2019. "XX > XY?: The changing female advantage in life expectancy," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    18. Aidt, T.S. & Dutta, Jayasri & Loukoianova, Elena, 2006. "Democracy comes to Europe: Franchise extension and fiscal outcomes 1830-1938," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 249-283, February.
    19. Stillman, Steven, 2006. "Health and nutrition in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union during the decade of transition: A review of the literature," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 4(1), pages 104-146, January.
    20. Benz, Matthias & Frey, Bruno S., 2008. "The value of doing what you like: Evidence from the self-employed in 23 countries," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 68(3-4), pages 445-455, December.
    21. Quentin Lippmann & Claudia Senik, 2018. "Math, girls and socialism," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-01886562, HAL.
    22. David Dorn & Justina Fischer & Gebhard Kirchgässner & Alfonso Sousa-Poza, 2007. "Is It Culture or Democracy? The Impact of Democracy and Culture on Happiness," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 82(3), pages 505-526, July.
    23. Komlos John & Kriwy Peter, 2003. "The Biological Standard of Living in the Two Germanies," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 4(4), pages 459-473, December.
    24. Bobak, M. & Kriz, B. & Leon, D.A. & Danova, J. & Marmot, M., 1994. "Socioeconomic factors and height of preschool children in the Czech Republic," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 84(7), pages 1167-1170.
    25. Costa-Font, Joan & Gil, Joan, 2008. "Generational effects and gender height dimorphism in contemporary Spain," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 1-18, March.
    26. Marein, Brian, 2020. "Economic development in Puerto Rico after US annexation: Anthropometric evidence," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    27. Richard Akresh & Sonia Bhalotra & Marinella Leone & Una Okonkwo Osili, 2012. "War and Stature: Growing Up during the Nigerian Civil War," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(3), pages 273-277, May.
    28. Constantinos Alexiou & Emmanouil Trachanas, 2021. "Politics, government health expenditure and infant mortality: does political party orientation matter?," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 48(12), pages 1810-1825, August.
    29. Gründler, Klaus & Krieger, Tommy, 2021. "Using Machine Learning for measuring democracy: A practitioners guide and a new updated dataset for 186 countries from 1919 to 2019," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    30. James Raymond Vreeland, 2008. "The Effect of Political Regime on Civil War," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 52(3), pages 401-425, June.
    31. John Komlos & Brian Snowdon, 2005. "Measures of Progress and Other Tall Stories," World Economics, World Economics, 1 Ivory Square, Plantation Wharf, London, United Kingdom, SW11 3UE, vol. 6(2), pages 87-135, April.
    32. Steckel, Richard H., 2009. "Heights and human welfare: Recent developments and new directions," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 1-23, January.
    33. Thomas Fujiwara, 2015. "Voting Technology, Political Responsiveness, and Infant Health: Evidence From Brazil," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 83, pages 423-464, March.
    34. Jan Svejnar, 2002. "Transition Economies: Performance and Challenges," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(1), pages 3-28, Winter.
    35. Quentin Lippmann & Alexandre Georgieff & Claudia Senik, 2020. "Undoing Gender with Institutions: Lessons from the German Division and Reunification," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-03247392, HAL.
    36. Boix, Carles & Rosenbluth, Frances, 2014. "Bones of Contention: The Political Economy of Height Inequality," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 108(1), pages 1-22, February.
    37. Timothy Besley & Masayuki Kudamatsu, 2006. "Health and Democracy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 313-318, May.
    38. Thesia I. Garner & Katherine Terrell, 1998. "A Gini decomposition analysis of inequality in the Czech and Slovak Republics during the transition1," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 6(1), pages 23-46, May.
    39. Quentin Lippmann & Alexandre Georgieff & Claudia Senik, 2020. "Undoing Gender with Institutions: Lessons from the German Division and Reunification," Post-Print halshs-03247392, HAL.
    40. Silventoinen, K. & Kaprio, J. & Lahelma, E. & Koskenvuo, M., 2000. "Relative effect of genetic and environmental factors on body height: Differences across birth cohorts among finnish men and women," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 90(4), pages 627-630.
    41. Richard H. Steckel, 1995. "Stature and the Standard of Living," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 33(4), pages 1903-1940, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Marco-Gracia, Francisco J. & López-Antón, Margarita, 2023. "Height and political activism in rural Aragón (Spain) during the 20th century. A new perspective using individual-level data," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    2. Wroński, Marcin, 2023. "The full distribution of adult height in Poland: Cohorts born between 1920 and 1996. The biological cost of the economic transition," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Batinti, Alberto & Costa-Font, Joan, 2022. "Does democracy make taller men? Cross-country European evidence," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    2. Joan Costa-i-Font & Lucia Kossarova, 2015. "Anthropometric Dividends of Czechoslovakia’s Break Up," LEQS – LSE 'Europe in Question' Discussion Paper Series 95, European Institute, LSE.
    3. Costa-Font, Joan & Kossarova, Lucia, 2014. "Anthropometric dividends of Czechoslovakia’s break up," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 60719, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Joan Costa-i-Font & Lucia Kossarova, 2014. "Anthropometric Dividends of Czechoslovakia's Break Up," CESifo Working Paper Series 5081, CESifo.
    5. Alberto Batinti & Joan Costa‐Font & Timothy J. Hatton, 2022. "Voting Up? The Effects of Democracy and Franchise Extension on Human Stature," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(353), pages 161-190, January.
    6. Jaanika Meriküll & Maryna Tverdostup, 2020. "The Gap That Survived The Transition: The Gender Wage Gap Over Three Decades In Estonia," University of Tartu - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Working Paper Series 127, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu (Estonia).
    7. Friedman-Sokuler, Naomi & Senik, Claudia, 2020. "From Pink-Collar to Lab Coat: Cultural Persistence and Diffusion of Socialist Gender Norms," IZA Discussion Papers 13385, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Joan Costa-Font & Lucia Kossarova, 2019. "Transitions that Matter? Czechoslovakia’s Break up and Human Stature," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-13, December.
    9. Estefanía Galván, 2022. "Gender Identity and Quality of Employment," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(354), pages 409-436, April.
    10. Pronkina, Elizaveta & Berniell, Inés & Fawaz, Yarine & Laferrère, Anne & Mira, Pedro, 2023. "The COVID-19 curtain: Can past communist regimes explain the vaccination divide in Europe?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
    11. Dilmaghani, Maryam, 2021. "The gender gap in competitive chess across countries: Commanding queens in command economies," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 425-441.
    12. Sascha O. Becker & Lukas Mergele & Ludger Woessmann, 2020. "The Separation and Reunification of Germany: Rethinking a Natural Experiment Interpretation of the Enduring Effects of Communism," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(2), pages 143-171, Spring.
    13. Telmo Pérez‐Izquierdo & Elizaveta Pronkina, 2023. "Behind the curtain: How did women's work history vary across Central and Eastern Europe?," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(2), pages 465-489, April.
    14. Trang Thu Do & Kien Nguyen-Trung & Chau Hai Le, 2023. "North–South discrepancy and gender role attitudes: evidence from Vietnam," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 159-178, March.
    15. Steckel, Richard H., 2009. "Heights and human welfare: Recent developments and new directions," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 1-23, January.
    16. Patricia Cortés & Gizem Koşar & Jessica Pan & Basit Zafar, 2022. "Should Mothers Work? How Perceptions of the Social Norm Affect Individual Attitudes Toward Work in the U.S," NBER Working Papers 30606, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Krieger, Tommy, 2022. "Democracy and the quality of economic institutions: Theory and evidence," ZEW Discussion Papers 22-032, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    18. Adolfo Meisel-Roca & María Teresa Ramírez-Giraldo & Daniela Santos-Cárdenas, 2019. "Long run relationship between biological well being, and economic development in Colombia," Borradores de Economia 1096, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    19. Tomáš Lichard & Filip Pertold & Samuel Škoda, 2021. "Do women face a glass ceiling at home? The division of household labor among dual-earner couples," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1209-1243, December.
    20. Deter, Max & Lange, Martin, 2023. "Are the supporters of socialism the losers of capitalism? Conformism in East Germany and transition success," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    democracy; wellbeing; human heights; waves of democratisation; communism; Europe; survey data;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • P20 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:113745. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: LSERO Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.