Disease and Development: Evidence from Hookworm Eradication in the American South

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ID: 299408
2007
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Abstract
This study evaluates the economic consequences of the successful eradication of hookworm disease from the American South, which started circa 1910. The Rockefeller Sanitary Commission (RSC) surveyed infection rates and found that 40 percent of school-aged children in the South were infected with hookworm. The RSC then sponsored treatment and education campaigns across the region. Follow-up studies indicate that this campaign substantially reduced hookworm disease almost immediately. Areas with higher levels of hookworm infection prior to the RSC experienced greater increases in school enrollment, attendance, and literacy after the intervention. No significant contemporaneous results are found for literacy or occupational shifts among adults, who had negligible prior infection rates. A long-term follow-up indicates a substantial gain in income that coincided with exposure to hookworm eradication. I also find evidence that the return to schooling increased with eradication.
Reference Key
openalex_W2055909669 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Hoyt Bleakley
Journal the quarterly journal of economics
Year 2007
DOI
10.1162/qjec.121.1.73
URL
https://doi.org/10.1162/qjec.121.1.73
Keywords Keywords not found

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