Kin Networks and Institutional Development*

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Schulz, Jonathan F.
• 署名单位: George Mason University
• 刊物名称: ECONOMIC JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0013-0133
• DOI: 10.1093/ej/ueac027
• 发表日期: 2022
• 页码: 2578-2613
• 关键词: political-institutions; middle-east; Europe; consanguinity; DEMOCRACY; rise; ORGANIZATION; COOPERATION; marriage; decline

摘要

This study provides evidence that strong kin networks are detrimental for democratic participatory institutions and that the medieval Catholic Church's marriage regulations dissolved Europe's clan-based kin networks, which contributed to the emergence of participatory institutions. I show that weak ancestral kin networks are positively associated with ethnicities' democratic traditions in the past and countries' democracy scores today. At the same time, medieval Church exposure predicts weak kin networks across countries, European regions and ethnicities. In a historical difference-in-difference analysis, I provide evidence that exposure to the Church contributed to the formation of medieval communes-self-governed cities with participatory institutions. Moreover, within Christian Europe, stricter regional and temporal marriage prohibitions are associated with commune formation. Lastly, I shed light on one mechanism, civicness, and show that weak kin networks are associated with more political participation.