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Revolutionary Transition: Inheritance Change and Fertility Decline

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  • Victor Gay

    (IAST - Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - Comue de Toulouse - Communauté d'universités et établissements de Toulouse - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)

  • Paula Gobbi

    (ULB - Université libre de Bruxelles = Free University of Brussels, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research)

  • Marc Goñi

    (UiB - University of Bergen, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research)

Abstract

We test Le Play's (1875) hypothesis that the French Revolution contributed to France's early fertility decline by imposing equal partition of inheritance among all children, including women. We combine new data on local inheritance rules before the Revolution and individual-level demographic data from historical sources and crowdsourced genealogies. Difference-in-differences and regression-discontinuity estimates show that the inheritance reforms enacted during the Revolution reduced completed fertility by 0.5 children. A key mechanism was the desire to avoid land fragmentation across generations. These reforms closed the fertility gap between regions with different historical inheritance rules and crucially contributed to France's demographic transition.

Suggested Citation

  • Victor Gay & Paula Gobbi & Marc Goñi, 2025. "Revolutionary Transition: Inheritance Change and Fertility Decline," Post-Print hal-04285818, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04285818
    DOI: 10.1086/739821
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04285818v4
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    Cited by:

    1. Gay, Victor & Gobbi, Paula E. & Goñi, Marc, 2024. "The Customary Atlas of Ancien Régime France," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    2. Paula E. Gobbi & Anne Hannusch & Pauline Rossi, 2026. "Family Institutions and the Global Fertility Transition," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 40(1), pages 47-70, Winter.
    3. Colasurdo, Andrea & Omenti, Riccardo, 2024. "Using Online Genealogical Data for Demographic Research: An Empirical Examination of the FamiLinx Database," SocArXiv 62yxm, Center for Open Science.
    4. repec:osf:socarx:62yxm_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Guillaume Blanc & Romain Wacziarg, 2025. "Malthusian Migrations," NBER Working Papers 33542, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Hiroshi Kumanomido & Yutaro Takayasu, 2025. "Elite Persistence in Family: The Role of Adoption in Prewar Japan," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 537, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.

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    JEL classification:

    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General
    • K11 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Property Law
    • N33 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General

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