We trace the introduction of anthropometric indicators into development and labor economics in the late 1970s.

We trace the introduction and use of anthropometric indicators (height, weight, body mass index) into development and labor economics in the late 1970s. These biological markers are used as a proxy measure for health human capital, the degree of poverty or malnutrition, net nutritional status,...

This study analyses the physical stature of runaway apprentices and military deserters based on advertisements collected from 18th-century newspapers, in order to explore the biological welfare of colonial and early-national Americans. The results indicate that heights declined somewhat at...

We propose a model of food allocation in an economy in which property rights exist in human beings. We assume that a slave-owner allocates food over the slave's lifetime so as to maximise his own wealth. The slave's productive capacity is determined endogenously by food consumption. Food...