Marital fertility and wealth during the fertility transition: rural France, 1750-1850
Marital fertility and wealth during the fertility transition: rural France, 1750-1850
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DOI:
10.1111/j.1468-0289.2012.00666.x
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发表时间:
2013-05-01
影响因子:
2.2
通讯作者:
Cummins, Neil
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
Cummins, Neil
It has been long established that the demographic transition began in eighteenth-century France, yet there is no consensus on exactly why fertility declined. This analysis links fertility life histories to wealth at death data for four rural villages in France, 1750-1850. For the first time, the wealth-fertility relationship during the onset of the French fertility decline can be analysed. Where fertility is declining, wealth is a powerful predictor of smaller family size. This article argues that fertility decline in France was a result of changing levels of economic inequality, associated with the 1789 Revolution. In cross-section, the data support this hypothesis: where fertility is declining, economic inequality is lower than where fertility is high.