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Land Inequality, Education, and Marriage: Empirical Evidence from Nineteenth-Century Prussia

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  • Francesco Cinnirella
  • Erik Hornung

Abstract

In this study we review the literature on the relationship between landownership inequality and the accumulation of human capital in historical perspective. Furthermore we provide new evidence on the relationship between landownership inequality and marriage patterns at the county level in nineteenth-century Prussia. Formally the landed elite could have influenced not only the labor relations with the peasants but also their marriage decisions. Using cross-sectional as well as panel analysis we find no evidence that noble landowners directly affected marriage rates. Instead we find a robust negative association between average formal education and the share of married women. This finding is in line with recent theoretical and empirical literature on the role of gender specific human capital in the demographic transition.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesco Cinnirella & Erik Hornung, 2016. "Land Inequality, Education, and Marriage: Empirical Evidence from Nineteenth-Century Prussia," CESifo Working Paper Series 6072, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_6072
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Quamrul H. Ashraf & Francesco Cinnirella & Oded Galor & Boris Gershman & Erik Hornung, 2017. "Capital-Skill Complementarity and the Emergence of Labor Emancipation," Department of Economics Working Papers 2017-03, Department of Economics, Williams College, revised Mar 2018.
    2. Sascha O. BECKER & Francesco CINNIRELLA, 2020. "Prussia Disaggregated: The Demography of its Universe of Localities in 1871," JODE - Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 86(3), pages 259-290, September.
    3. Graziella Bertocchi & Monica Bozzano, 2019. "Gender gaps in education," Department of Economics 0158, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    4. Bertocchi, Graziella & Bozzano, Monica, 2019. "Gender Gaps in Education," GLO Discussion Paper Series 415, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    5. Giovanni Campisi & Silvia Muzzioli, 2019. "Construction and properties of volatility indices for Austria, Finland and Spain," Department of Economics 0156, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    land inequality; education; marriage; Prussian economic history;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth
    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • N33 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: Pre-1913

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