Working Paper: NBER ID: w29620
Authors: D. Mark Anderson; Kerwin Kofi Charles; Michael McKelligott; Daniel I. Rees
Abstract: In the mid-19th century, the urban milk supply in the United States was regularly skimmed or diluted with water, reducing its nutritional value. At the urging of public health experts, cities across the country hired milk inspectors, who were tasked with collecting and analyzing milk samples with the goal of preventing adulteration and skimming. Using city-level data for the period 1880-1910, we explore the effects of milk inspections on infant mortality and mortality among children under the age of 5. Event-study estimates are small and statistically insignificant, providing little evidence of post-treatment reductions in either infant or child mortality.
Keywords: milk inspections; infant mortality; child mortality; public health; historical analysis
JEL Codes: I18; J1; N31
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Infant mortality (J13) | Overall mortality reduction (I14) |
| Child mortality (J13) | Overall mortality reduction (I14) |
| Municipal milk inspections (L66) | Infant mortality (J13) |
| Municipal milk inspections (L66) | Child mortality (J13) |