The European Marriage Pattern and its Positive Consequences Montesquieu-Volvestre, 1660-1789

Abstract

For a French village, we reconstitute most families and build accurate measurements of economic conditions. Combined with marriage contracts (systematic in this written-law area), we are able to control for wealth, Stem households and social status of father and husband for a representative sample. We clarify the operation of the EMP system: bad economic conditions resulted in later female age at marriage, which had positive consequences, such as fewer children, adjusting the population level, and a smaller age difference between spouses, allowing greater agency for women within the couple. A supposed positive effect on human capital is not significant.

Keywords: European Marriage Pattern, Economic Development, Family System, Population, Gender Gap, Fertility

JEL Classification: J120, J130, K000, N330, O170