The regional impact of an epidemic: socioeconomic and demographic data in Java, 1905-1924.

This dataset contains data for the island of Java, Indonesia, at the -level - comparable to present-day . The data concern trends in area of cultivated sugar, total and per-hectare sugar production, crude mortality rates and wages in the period ca. 1909-1924.

A bitter epidemic: The impact of the 1918 influenza on sugar production in Java.

Research about the economic consequences of past epidemics has mostly focused on the experience of industrialized countries, thus providing little knowledge about the effects of health shocks on developing economies. We fill this gap by studying the impact of the 1918 influenza in Java, with a new dataset on aggregate food production and district-level figures on (i) sugar production, the major export commodity and the predominant source of labour demand; (ii) agricultural and plantation wages, and (iii) annual crude death rates. The mortality impact of the influenza on Java was high, as crude mortality rates doubled in 1918 relative to the preceding years, but its economic impact was mixed.

Health and economic development since 1900.

The 20th century has brought unprecedented gains in health. While these have improved citizens' lives worldwide, progress has been uneven and have in turn led to substantial cross-country health inequalities. This article looks at the effects of these inequalities on between-country economic inequality since 1900 using a level accounting framework that includes life expectancy as an important part of human capital besides education.