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Differential mortality of Asians and Pacific Islanders in The Pacific Labour Trade

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Abstract

Quantitative evidence is presented on the differential mortality suffered by Indian and Pacific Island labour migrants on Fiji’s plantations between 1883 and 1919, and by Japanese, Chinese and Pacific Island labour migrants in the phosphate mines on Ocean Island and Nauru between 1913 and 1940. Pacific Island labour migrants suffered much higher death rates than Asian labour migrants, due, it is suggested, to their much greater vulnerability to newly introduced infectious diseases.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economic History, The Flinders University of South Australia, SA 5042, Bedford Park

    Ralph Shlomowitz

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  1. Ralph Shlomowitz
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Additional information

This paper was generated by an ongoing project supported by the Australian Research Grants Scheme. I am indebted to Maie Raud for excellent research assistance, to Doug Munro for stimulating my interest in Ocean Island and Nauru while on a Visiting Research Fellowship at The Flinders University of South Australia, to Bryan Gandevia and Barry Smith for a most helpful correspondence on disease in history, and to Stanley L. Engerman, Brij V. Lal, Barrie Macdonald, Doug Munro, Jonathan J. Pincus, Leonie Randall, Barry Smith, Richard H. Steckel and two anonymous referees for comments on an earlier version of this paper.

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Shlomowitz, R. Differential mortality of Asians and Pacific Islanders in The Pacific Labour Trade. Journal of Population Research 7, 116–127 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03029360

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