Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/250636 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 14975
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
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.
Subjects: 
mortality transition
milk inspections
infant mortality
child mortality
public health
JEL: 
I18
J1
N31
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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