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Marital fertility and wealth in transition era France, 1750-1850

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  • Neil Cummins

    (PJSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, LSE - Economic History Department - London school of economics and political science - LSE - London School of Economics and Political Science)

Abstract

The spectacularly early decline of French fertility is one of the great puzzles of economic history. There are no convincing explanations for why France entered a fertility transition over a century before anywhere else in the world. This analysis links highly detailed individual level fertility life histories to wealth at death data for four rural villages in transition-era France, 1750-1850. The results show that it was the richest groups who reduced their family size first and that they used spacing strategies to achieve this. In cross section, measures of the environment for social mobility are strongly associated with the fertility decline. The evidence presented here demonstrates that socioeconomic status mattered during the early French fertility decline. This study is a first step towards re-establishing the French experience as paramount in our understanding of Europe's demographic transition.

Suggested Citation

  • Neil Cummins, 2009. "Marital fertility and wealth in transition era France, 1750-1850," PSE Working Papers halshs-00566843, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-00566843
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00566843
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    1. Alberto Basso, 2015. "Does Democracy Foster the Fertility Transition?," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(4), pages 459-474, November.

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