de la Croix, David, Schneider, Eric B. 
ORCID: 0000-0001-7682-0126 and Weisdorf, Jacob
(2018)
"Decessit sine prole" - childlessness, celibacy, and survival of the richest in pre-industrial England.
Economic History working papers (276/2018).
London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.
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Abstract
In explaining England's early industrial development, previous research has highlighted that wealthy pre-industrial elites had more surviving offspring than their poorer counter- parts. Thus, entrepreneurial traits spread and helped England grow rich. We contest this view, showing that lowerclass reproduction rates were no different from the elites when accounting for singleness and childlessness. Elites married less and were more often childless. Many died without descendants (decessit sine prole). We find that the middle classes had the highest reproduction and argue that this advantage was instrumental to England's economic success because the middle class invested most strongly in human capital.
| Item Type: | Monograph (Working Paper) |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | http://www.lse.ac.uk/Economic-History |
| Additional Information: | © 2018 The Authors |
| Divisions: | Economic History |
| Subjects: | D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D204 Modern History H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman |
| JEL classification: | J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J12 - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J13 - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth N - Economic History > N3 - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Income, and Wealth > N33 - Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Income and Wealth: Europe: Pre-1913 |
| Date Deposited: | 12 Mar 2018 12:54 |
| Last Modified: | 13 Sep 2024 20:40 |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/87153 |
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