I study the impact of transportation on health in the rural United States, 1820–1847. Measuring health by average stature, I find that greater transportation linkage, as measured by market access, in a cohort’s county-year of birth had an adverse impact on its health. A one-standard-deviation increase in market access reduced average stature by 0.14 inches, and rising market access over the study period can explain 37 percent of the contemporaneous decline in average stature, known as theAntebellum Puzzle. I find evidence that transportation affected health by increasing population density, leading to a worse epidemiological environment.

中文翻译：

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战前美国的交通与健康，1820-1847 年

我研究了 1820-1847 年美国农村地区交通对健康的影响。通过平均身高来衡量健康，我发现以市场准入衡量，在一个队列的县出生年份中，更大的交通联系对其健康产生了不利影响。市场准入增加一个标准差会使平均身高减少 0.14 英寸，研究期间市场准入的增加可以解释 37% 的平均身高同期下降，称为战前拼图. 我发现有证据表明交通通过增加人口密度来影响健康，从而导致更糟糕的流行病学环境。