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A Measure of Legal Independence”: The 1870 Married Women's Property Act and the Portfolio Allocations of British Wives

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  • COMBS, MARY BETH

Abstract

I examine the portfolio allocations of women married in the years surrounding the 1870 Married Women's Property Act. The act, which gave women married after 1870 the right to own and control personal property, serves as a natural experiment to examine the extent to which individuals respond to changes in property law. I link wealth data to census information and find that, as a result of the act, women married after 1870 altered their portfolio allocations by shifting wealth-holding away from real property to personal property. The results indicate that the act greatly impacted the investment decisions of women.

Suggested Citation

  • Combs, Mary Beth, 2005. "A Measure of Legal Independence”: The 1870 Married Women's Property Act and the Portfolio Allocations of British Wives," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 65(4), pages 1028-1057, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:65:y:2005:i:04:p:1028-1057_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Moshe Hazan & David Weiss & Hosny Zoabi, 2019. "Women's Liberation as a Financial Innovation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 74(6), pages 2915-2956, December.
    2. Acheson, Graeme G. & Campbell, Gareth & Gallagher, Áine & Turner, John D., 2018. "Independent women: Shareholders in the age of the suffragettes," QUCEH Working Paper Series 2018-09, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.
    3. Matthias Doepke & Michèle Tertilt, 2009. "Women's Liberation: What's in It for Men?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(4), pages 1541-1591.
    4. Janette Rutterford & David R. Green & Josephine Maltby & Alastair Owens, 2011. "Who comprised the nation of shareholders? Gender and investment in Great Britain, c. 1870–1935," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 64(1), pages 157-187, February.
    5. Livio Di Matteo, 2016. "Wealth Distribution and the Canadian Middle Class: Historical Evidence and Policy Implications," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 42(2), pages 132-151, June.
    6. Hyland, Marie & Djankov, Simeon & Goldberg, Pinelopi, 2021. "Do gendered laws matter?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118845, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Helen Mussell, 2019. "Elucidating Limited Shareholder Engagement: Identifying Ethical and Epistemological Factors in the Fiduciary," Working Papers wp516, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    8. Matthias Doepke & Michèle Tertilt & Alessandra Voena, 2012. "The Economics and Politics of Women's Rights," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 4(1), pages 339-372, July.
    9. Julian Friedland & Benjamin M. Cole, 2019. "From Homo-economicus to Homo-virtus: A System-Theoretic Model for Raising Moral Self-Awareness," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 191-205, March.
    10. Di Matteo, Livio, 2013. "Women, wealth and economic change: An assessment of the impact of women's property law in Wentworth County, Ontario, 1872–1927," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 285-307.
    11. Graeme G. Acheson & Gareth Campbell & Áine Gallagher & John D. Turner, 2021. "Independent women: investing in British railways, 1870–1922," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 74(2), pages 471-495, May.
    12. Livio Di Matteo, 2008. "Wealth accumulation motives: evidence from the probate records of Ontario, 1892 and 1902," Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 2(2), pages 143-171, July.
    13. Hyland,Marie Caitriona & Islam,Asif Mohammed, 2021. "Gendered Laws, Informal Origins, and Subsequent Performance," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9766, The World Bank.

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