Health, Human Capital Development and the Longevity of Japanese Elites Since 710

By: Tom Nicholas and Hiroshi Shimizu

Format:Print
| Language:English
| Pages:47

Abstract

We examine the lifespan of over 40,000 elites in Japan born between 710 and 1912, including samurai warriors, feudal lords, business, political, cultural, and religious leaders at the apex of the social hierarchy. Japanese elites experienced increases in lifespan about 200 years after the European elite, coinciding with the transition to sustained economic growth. After more than a millennium of stagnation, lifespans increased by an unprecedented 2.4 years every decade during the Meiji modernization era, when mortality patterns also became disconnected from weather cycles. College-educated elites benefitted the most, consistent with theories suggesting health improvements are largest as the economy shifts towards a reliance on human capital development. We also find substantial heterogeneity in the longevity returns to a college education, with null effects among women and in occupational categories where access to health knowledge, ascetic lifestyles, or cognitive capacity were prevalent.