Prussia Disaggregated: The Demography of its Universe of Localities in 1871

42 Pages Posted: 4 May 2020

See all articles by Sascha O. Becker

Sascha O. Becker

Monash University - Department of Economics; University of Warwick

Francesco Cinnirella

University of Bergamo; University of Southern Denmark - Department of Business and Economics; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute) - Ifo Institute; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); CAGE

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Abstract

We provide, for the first time, a detailed and comprehensive overview of the demography of more than 50,000 towns, villages, and manors in 1871 Prussia. We study religion, literacy, fertility, and group segregation by location type (town, village, and manor). We find that Jews live predominantly in towns. Villages and manors are substantially segregated by denomination, whereas towns are less segregated. Yet, we find relatively lower levels of segregation by literacy. Regression analyses with county-fixed effects show that a larger share of Protestants is associated with higher literacy rates across all location types. A larger share of Jews relative to Catholics is not significantly associated with higher literacy in towns, but it is in villages and manors. Finally, a larger share of Jews is associated with lower fertility in towns, which is not explained by differences in literacy.

Keywords: religion, segregation, literacy, fertility, Prussia

JEL Classification: J13, J15, I21, N33, Z12

Suggested Citation

Becker, Sascha O. and Cinnirella, Francesco, Prussia Disaggregated: The Demography of its Universe of Localities in 1871. IZA Discussion Paper No. 13193, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3590891 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3590891

Sascha O. Becker (Contact Author)

Monash University - Department of Economics ( email )

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Australia

University of Warwick ( email )

Gibbet Hill Rd.
Coventry, West Midlands CV4 8UW
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Francesco Cinnirella

University of Bergamo ( email )

Via dei Caniana 2
Bergamo, 24129
Italy

University of Southern Denmark - Department of Business and Economics ( email )

DK-5230 Odense
Denmark

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute) - Ifo Institute ( email )

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Munich, 81679
Germany

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

CAGE ( email )

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London, NW10 7LQ
United Kingdom

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