American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
How the West "Invented" Fertility Restriction
American Economic Review
vol. 103,
no. 6, October 2013
(pp. 2227–64)
Abstract
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.Citation
Voigtländer, Nico, and Hans-Joachim Voth. 2013. "How the West "Invented" Fertility Restriction." American Economic Review, 103 (6): 2227–64. DOI: 10.1257/aer.103.6.2227Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- J12 Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
- J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- N33 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: Europe: Pre-1913
- N53 Economic History: Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment, and Extractive Industries: Europe: Pre-1913
- Q11 Agriculture: Aggregate Supply and Demand Analysis; Prices