Disease and development: Evidence from hookworm eradication in the American South

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.

这项研究评估了大约从1910年开始的美国南方钩虫病成功根除所带来的经济影响。洛克菲勒卫生委员会（RSC）调查了感染率，发现南方40%的学龄儿童感染了钩虫。随后，RSC在该地区发起了治疗和教育活动。后续研究表明，这场活动几乎立刻大幅减少了钩虫病。在RSC行动之前钩虫感染率较高的地区，在干预之后，入学率、出勤率和识字率都有了更大幅度的提高。对于之前感染率可忽略不计的成年人，在识字率或职业转变方面没有发现显著的同期结果。一项长期的跟踪调查显示，随着钩虫病的根除，收入有了大幅增长。我还发现有证据表明，随着钩虫病的根除，教育回报率有所提高。