“Effects of Historical Land Redistribution: Evidence from Land Lotteries in New Zealand,” Evan Roberts, University of Minnesota

POPULATION STUDIES WORKSHOP

Abstract: Demographers and other social scientists have long been interested in the effect of material resources on health. However, causal inference is challenging because of challenges randomizing receipt of money or other resources in real-world settings. In this paper we analyze a dataset of 1,564 applicants to a land lottery program in New Zealand that operated from 1893-1911. The terms of the program required that applicants have similar amounts of net wealth, and apply for specific property parcels. Lotteries were performed for each parcel separately, and winners were restricted from acquiring multiple farms. We link application records to New Zealand death records and estimate within-farm models of how winning a farm affected life span. We find that winning a farm led to significant improvements in life expectancy of around 1.5 years. (Joint research with Henry Thomson, Jhuh-Yun Liu, and Robert Schub.)

Evan Roberts is an Assistant Professor in the Population Studies and History of Medicine programs at the University of Minnesota. His research interests are in the demographic, social and economic history of Australasia and North American in the 19th and 20th centuries, with a focus on examining how the impact of early life influences on later life outcomes has changed over time. His work is characterized by a search for early-life data that can be linked to later life sources. 

This workshop is being hosted jointly by the Population Studies Workshop and the Economic History Workshop, and is open to the Yale community.  Lunch will be served.