Medical Technology and Life Expectancy: Evidence from the Antitoxin Treatment of Diphtheria
研究了马萨诸塞州免费供应白喉抗毒素（第一种有效治疗传染病的药物）对历史健康转型的影响，发现快速获得抗毒素治疗显著提高了年轻人群的预期寿命，表明医学与有效公共卫生政策在20世纪初发挥了比以往认为更重要的作用。
We examine the impact of the free supply of diphtheria antitoxin, the first effective medical treatment for an infectious disease, on the historical health transition in Massachusetts. Using newly collected municipality-level data on the distribution of antitoxin and information from over 1.5 million death certificates from 1880 to 1914, we find that the rapid availability of antitoxin treatment significantly increased life expectancy at young ages. Our findings suggest that medicine, combined with an effective public health policy, played a more important role in improving life expectancy in the early twentieth century than previously thought.