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Lifeboat ethics versus corporate ethics - social and demographic implications of stem and joint families

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  • Das Gupta, Monica

Abstract

The author distinguishes the lifeboat ethic of Northern Europe's stem family system from the corporate ethic of North India's joint family system, which has much in common with that of China. She contrasts these family systems to show how norms of residence and inheritance: a) Profoundly influence our values and social constructs. b) Shape patterns of conflict and cooperation between people, thus influencing many basic aspects of social organization and behavior. c) Influence health outcomes by categorizing people according to whether their health is promoted or allowed to fail. d) Shape a wide range of other development outcomes, including migration, strategies of household resource management, ways of exploiting commercial opportunities, and the operation of civil society. The author develops a number of hypotheses about the nature of these relationships. Some of these are substantiated quantitatively, and others can be tested empirically.

Suggested Citation

  • Das Gupta, Monica, 1999. "Lifeboat ethics versus corporate ethics - social and demographic implications of stem and joint families," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2127, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:2127
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Das Gupta, Monica, 1987. "Informal Security Mechanisms and Population Retention in Rural India," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(1), pages 101-120, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Tarun Jain, 2014. "Where There Is a Will: Fertility Behavior and Sex Bias in Large Families," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 49(2), pages 393-423.
    2. Mikołaj Szołtysek & Siegfried Gruber & Rembrandt D. Scholz & Barbara Zuber Goldstein, 2009. "Social change and family change in a Central European urban context: Rostock 1819-1867," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2009-039, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    3. Keera Allendorf, 2012. "Women’s Agency and the Quality of Family Relationships in India," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 31(2), pages 187-206, April.
    4. Rebeca Echavarri, 2022. "Neonatal discrimination and excess female mortality in childhood in Spain in the first half of the twentieth century," Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 16(1), pages 79-104, January.
    5. Ding, Feng & Du, Limin & Shi, Jinchuan, 2020. "Lucky to have a sister: The effects of unmarried sister on brother outcomes in late imperial China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    6. Etienne Breton, 2019. "Modernization and Household Composition in India, 1983–2009," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 45(4), pages 739-766, December.
    7. Varghese, Rekha & Roy, Manan, 2019. "Coresidence with mother-in-law and maternal anemia in rural India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 226(C), pages 37-46.
    8. Rubiana Chamarbagwala, 2011. "Sibling composition and selective gender-based survival bias," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(3), pages 935-955, July.
    9. Ying Li & Quanbao Jiang, 2017. "The Intergenerational Effect and Second Childbirth: Survey Findings from the Shaanxi Province of China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 133(2), pages 669-691, September.
    10. Bastian Mönkediek & Hilde Bras, 2018. "Family Systems and Fertility Intentions: Exploring the Pathways of Influence," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 34(1), pages 33-57, February.
    11. Bastian Mönkediek, 2020. "Patterns of spatial proximity and the timing and spacing of bearing children," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 42(16), pages 461-496.

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