How the West Invented Fertility Restriction

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Voigtlaender, Nico; Voth, Hans-Joachim
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Los Angeles; Pompeu Fabra University
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0002-8282
• DOI: 10.1257/aer.103.6.2227
• 发表日期: 2013
• 页码: 2227-2264
• 关键词: malthusian stagnation; Household formation; england; GROWTH; population; mortality; ECONOMY; PRODUCTIVITY; urbanization; NUPTIALITY

摘要

We analyze the emergence of the first socioeconomic institution in history limiting fertility: west of a line from St. Petersburg to Trieste, the European Marriage Pattern (EMP) reduced childbirths by approximately one-third between the fourteenth and eighteenth century. To explain the rise of EMP we build a two-sector model of agricultural production-grain and livestock. Women have a comparative advantage in animal husbandry. After the Black Death in 1348-1350, land abundance triggered a shift toward the pastoral sector. This improved female employment prospects, leading to later marriages. Using detailed data from England, we provide strong evidence for our mechanism.