Adoption, Inheritance, and Wealth Inequality in Pre-industrial Japan and Western Europe

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Norwegian School of Economics (NHH); University of Manchester
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0507
• DOI: 10.1017/S0022050724000524
• 发表日期: 2025
• 页码: 250-286
• 关键词: economic-development; common rights; low-countries; england; LAND; primogeniture; marriage; france; sweden; TRENDS

摘要

This paper uses Japanese village censuses, 1637-1872, to measure inequality in landownership. Surprisingly, inequality was low and stable, unlike in Europe, where it was high and increasing. To explain this, I study inter-generational land transmissions. I find that Japanese households without sons adopted male heirs, thereby keeping lands in the family. In contrast, elite English male lines failed 20-30 percent of the time as adoptions were uncommon, leading to a highly unequal redistribution of their lands. Finally, the institutional differences in adoption had roots in fourth-century church policy, and this may partially explain why Europe was more unequal by 1800.