The effect of investment in children’s education on fertility in 1816 Prussia

Becker, Sascha O.; Cinnirella, Francesco; Woessmann, Ludger

doi:10.1007/s11698-011-0061-8

Cited by 61 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 32 publications

(27 reference statements)

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“…Before the Industrial Revolution, all societies were characterized by a very long period of stagnation in per capita income with high fertility rates. Since this fateful period, Western countries observed a complete reversal with high sustained income per capita and low fertility (Becker et al, 2012, Klemp, 2012. In parallel to economic and demographic transitions, we note profound changes in the structure of the population: formal education became accessible to a vast majority of the population while drastic changes occurred in gender relations.…”

Section: Dynamic Evolution Of Gendermentioning

confidence: 82%

From Stagnation to Sustained Growth: The Role of Female Empowerment

Diebolt

Perrin

2013

American Economic Review

136

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Section: Dynamic Evolution Of Gendermentioning

confidence: 82%

From Stagnation to Sustained Growth: The Role of Female Empowerment

Diebolt

Perrin

2013

American Economic Review

136

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“…While other authors have imputed or extrapolated values if they were missing for some variables for some years (e.g. Becker et al 2010Becker et al , 2011a, the possibility to do so is limited if a variable is only available for t = 2 and n = 23. Hence, we resort to a solution used in previous studies (e.g.…”

Section: Econometric Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pensions and fertility: back to the roots

Fenge

Scheubel

2016

J Popul Econ

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Abstract Fertility has long been declining in industrialised countries and the existence of public pension systems is considered as one of the causes. This paper provides detailed evidence on the mechanism by which a public pension system depresses fertility, based on historical data. Our theoretical framework highlights that the effect of a public pension system on fertility is ex ante ambiguous while its size is determined by the internal rate of return of the pension system. We identify an overall negative effect of the introduction of pension insurance on fertility using regional variation across 23 provinces of Imperial Germany in key variables of Bismarck's pension system, which was introduced in Imperial Germany in 1891. The negative effect on fertility is robust to controlling for the traditional determinants of the first demographic transition as well as to other policy changes. Terms of use: Documents in EconStor may

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“…Galor et al (2009) exploit exogenous source of variation in the concentration of land ownership across states in the US using data from the beginning of the twentieth century, they find that inequality in the distribution of land ownership indeed had an adverse effect on public investment in education. Becker et al (2010Becker et al ( , 2012 exploit variation in the concentration of land ownership across counties in Prussia and show that landownership was negatively related to educational enrolment in Prussia in 1816 and in 1849.…”

Section: Land Concentration: a Hurdle For Human Capital Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inequality, Human Capital Formation and the Process of Development

Galor

2011

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Conventional wisdom about the relationship between income distribution and economic development has been subjected to dramatic transformations in the past century. While classical economists advanced the hypothesis that inequality is beneficial for growth, the neoclassical paradigm dismissed the classical hypothesis and suggested that income distribution has limited role in the growth process. A metamorphosis in these perspectives has taken place in the past two decades. Theory and subsequent empirical evidence have demonstrated that income distribution has a significant impact on human capital formation and the development process. In early stages of industrialization, as physical capital accumulation was a prime engine of growth, inequality enhanced the process of development by channeling resources towards individuals whose marginal propensity to save is higher. In later stages of development, however, as human capital has become a main engine of growth, equality, in the presence of credit constraints, has stimulated human capital formation and growth. Moreover, unequal distribution of land has been a hurdle for economic development. While industrialists have had an incentive to support education policies that foster human capital formation, landowners, whose interests lay in the reduction of the mobility of their labor force, have favored policies that deprived the masses of education.

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The effect of investment in children’s education on fertility in 1816 Prussia

Cited by 61 publications

References 32 publications

From Stagnation to Sustained Growth: The Role of Female Empowerment

From Stagnation to Sustained Growth: The Role of Female Empowerment

Pensions and fertility: back to the roots

Inequality, Human Capital Formation and the Process of Development

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