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The Law of Primogeniture and the Transition from Landed Aristocracy to Industrial Democracy

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  • Bertocchi, Graziella

Abstract

This Paper looks at the historical evolution of the relationship between an economy?s structure and the corresponding political system, with a focus on the European experience, starting from feudal times. We show why, in an early agricultural phase, aristocratic political systems prevail, while democracies tend to emerge with industrialization. At the same time the law of inheritance evolves from primogeniture to equal partition, as the primary source of wealth shifts from land to capital. The model also replicates the historical stylized facts of output growth and its sectoral composition, income and wealth distribution, and class structure.

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  • Bertocchi, Graziella, 2003. "The Law of Primogeniture and the Transition from Landed Aristocracy to Industrial Democracy," CEPR Discussion Papers 3723, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:3723
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Primogeniture; Land; Aristocracy; Industrialization; Democracy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • N10 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
    • P10 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - General

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