Statistical discrimination during the 1871 yellow fever epidemic in Buenos Aires
Date
2024-11
Authors
Millas Caputo, Juan Francisco
relationships.isContributorOfPublication
Romero, María Noelia
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Universidad de San Andrés. Departamento de Economía
Abstract
This paper aims to assess the existence (and if so, estimate the magnitude) of a discriminatory bias against low-income and immigrant households in the context of the 1871 yellow fever epidemic in Buenos Aires. The argument presents the previous anecdotal evidence on discrimination based on socioeconomic outcomes and nationality from government-appointed commissioners, and proposes this investigation as an econometric approach that assesses and quantifies the existence of this phenomenon using historical data. The identification strategy consists of commissioner-level fixed-effects models to control for individual-specific unobservable variables. The main takeaway is that, in line with previous anecdotal evidence presented by other authors, these households’ (conventillos) probability of being fined when non-compliant of hygiene norms was 14 p.p. higher than other types of households and the monetary value of the fines they received were 159 $m/c (pesos moneda corriente) higher.
Description
Fil: Millas Caputo, Juan Francisco. Universidad de San Andrés. Departamento de Economía; Argentina.