Working Paper: NBER ID: w23430
Authors: Howard Bodenhorn
Abstract: Saving is essential to the health of economies because it provides the wherewithal for investment. In the late nineteenth century, saving was also essential to the health of urban working-class households. This study brings together information from surveys of household spending and saving, reports of savings banks and insurance companies, water and sewer authorities, and health commissioners to illuminate the connections between household savings and health improvements. Contemporary financial institutions positively influenced economic growth by allocating capital to highly productive employments, including public infrastructure. Specifically, investments in waterworks contributed to the long-run decline in typhoid infection, which improved worker health and productivity.
Keywords: household savings; public investment; public health; Nineteenth-century; New Jersey
JEL Codes: I15; N31
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Household savings (D14) | Public investment in waterworks (H54) |
| Public investment in waterworks (H54) | Typhoid mortality (I12) |
| Typhoid mortality (I12) | Labor productivity (O49) |
| Household savings (D14) | Labor productivity (O49) |