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Family Structure and the Education Gender Gap: Evidence from Italian Provinces

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  • Graziella Bertocchi
  • Monica Bozzano

Abstract

We investigate the determinants of the education gender gap in Italy in a historical perspective with a focus on the influence of family structure. We capture the latter with two indicators: residential habits (nuclear versus complex families) and inheritance rules (partition versus primogeniture). After controlling for economic, institutional, religious, and cultural factors, we find that over the 1861–1901 period family structure is a driver of the education gender gap, with a higher female-to-male enrollment rate ratio in upper primary schools being associated with nuclear residential habits and equal partition of inheritance. We also find that only the effect of inheritance rules persists over the 1971–2001 period. (JEL codes: E02, H75, I25, J16, N33, O15).

Suggested Citation

  • Graziella Bertocchi & Monica Bozzano, 2015. "Family Structure and the Education Gender Gap: Evidence from Italian Provinces," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 61(1), pages 263-300.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:cesifo:v:61:y:2015:i:1:p:263-300.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/cesifo/ifu026
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    2. Siwan Anderson & Chris Bidner, 2021. "An Institutional Perspective on the Economics of the Family," Discussion Papers dp21-14, Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University.
    3. Bartels, Charlotte & Jäger, Simon & Obergruber, Natalie, 2020. "Long-Term Effects of Equal Sharing: Evidence from Inheritance Rules for Land," IZA Discussion Papers 13665, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Thomas TB Baudin & Bram De Rock & Paula Eugenia Gobbi, 2021. "Economics and Family Structures," Working Papers ECARES 2021-21, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    5. Riphahn & Caroline Schwientek, 2015. "What drives the reversal of the gender education gap? Evidence from Germany," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(53), pages 5748-5775, November.
    6. Bertocchi, Graziella & Bozzano, Monica, 2016. "Women, medieval commerce, and the education gender gap," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 496-521.
    7. Annalisa Frigo & Èric Roca Fernández, 2022. "Roots of gender equality: the persistent effect of beguinages on attitudes toward women," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 91-148, March.
    8. Giuliano, Paola, 2017. "Gender: An Historical Perspective," IZA Discussion Papers 10931, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Graziella Bertocchi & Monica Bozzano, 2016. "Origins and implications of family structure across Italian provinces in historical perspective," Department of Economics 0095, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    10. Mikołaj Szołtysek & Radosław Poniat & Sebastian Klüsener & Siegfried Gruber, 2017. "Family organisation and human capital inequalities in historic Europe: testing the association anew," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2017-012, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    11. Ana Tur-Prats, 2019. "Family Types and Intimate Partner Violence: A Historical Perspective," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 101(5), pages 878-891, December.
    12. Graziella Bertocchi & Monica Bozzano, 2019. "Origins and Implications of Family Structure Across Italian Provinces in Historical Perspective," Studies in Economic History, in: Claude Diebolt & Auke Rijpma & Sarah Carmichael & Selin Dilli & Charlotte Störmer (ed.), Cliometrics of the Family, chapter 0, pages 121-147, Springer.
    13. Giulia Mancini, 2018. "Women's Labor Force Participation in Italy, 1861-2011," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 3-68.
    14. Monica Bozzano & Paola Profeta & Riccardo Puglisi & Simona Scabrosetti, 2021. "Women’s Voice on Redistribution: from Gender Norms to Taxation," Working papers 102, Società Italiana di Economia Pubblica.
    15. C. Cascella & J. Williams & M. Pampaka, 2022. "An Extended Regional Gender Gaps Index (eRGGI): Comparative Measurement of Gender Equality at Different Levels of Regionality," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 159(2), pages 757-800, January.
    16. Harka, Elona & Nunziata, Luca & Rocco, Lorenzo, 2021. "The Alabaster Ceiling: The Gender Legacy of the Papal States," IZA Discussion Papers 14719, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Bozzano, Monica, 2017. "On the historical roots of women's empowerment across Italian provinces: religion or family culture?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 24-46.
    18. Giuliano, Paola, 2020. "Gender and Culture," CEPR Discussion Papers 15185, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Youssouf Merouani & Faustine Perrin, 2022. "Gender and the long-run development process. A survey of the literature [Rethinking age heaping: A cautionary tale from nineteenth-century Italy]," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 26(4), pages 612-641.
    20. Szoltysek, Mikolaj & Poniat, Radosław, 2019. "Historical family systems and lasting developmental trajectories in Europe: the power of the family?," SocArXiv ad7qr, Center for Open Science.
    21. Bozzano, Monica & Profeta, Paola & Puglisi, Riccardo & Scabrosetti, Simona, 2024. "Women’s voice on redistribution: From gender equality to equalizing taxation," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    22. Monica Bozzano, 2015. "On the Historical Roots of Women’s Empowerment across Italian Provinces: Religion or Family Culture?," Department of Economics 0052, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    23. Mancini, Giulia, 2019. "The determinants of female labor supply in Italy, 1881-2018," MPRA Paper 102165, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    24. Le Bris, David, 2020. "Family Characteristics and Economic Development," MPRA Paper 105325, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E02 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Institutions and the Macroeconomy
    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • N33 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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