​The Cultural Origins of the Demographic Transition in France

Guillaume Blanc

Working Papers from HAL

Abstract: This research shows that secularization accounts for the remarkably early fertility decline in France. The demographic transition, a turning point in history and an essential condition for development, began in France more than a century earlier than in any other country. Why it happened so early is one of the `big questions of history' because it challenges traditional explanations and because of data limitations. Using a novel dataset crowdsourced from publicly available genealogies, I comprehensively document the decline in fertility and its timing with a representative sample of the population. Drawing on a wide range of sources and data, I document an important process of secularization in the eighteenth century and find a strong and robust association with the timing of the transition across regions and individuals. Finally, I discuss the persistent impact of the transition on economic growth and explore the drivers of secularization.

Keywords: secularization; fertility; development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-11-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-evo, nep-gro and nep-his
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-02318180v11
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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