Changes in Household Size and Reallocation of Household Labor in Interwar Rural Japan

Motoi Kusadokoro, Takeshi Maru, Masanori Takashima and Osamu Saito

Economic Review, 2020, vol. 71, issue 1, 83-101

Abstract: In the 1930s,Japanese rural society experienced a sudden shift from a period of overpopulation to one of outflow. Towards the end of the period,non-farm job opportunities as well as military mobilization increased, as a result,of which many young men in the farm sector left their families,including eldest sons who usually stayed at home as farm successors. The study investigates the reallocation of household labor force in response to the large-scale withdrawal of young males from agriculture. Quantitative analysis shows that agricultural work that was earlier carried on by the outgoing males was largely taken up by mothers and other adult women. The impact of the outflowʼ was a little stronger when the eldest son left the farm.

JEL-codes: N55 O13 Q12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hit:ecorev:v:71:y:2020:i:1:p:83-101

DOI: 10.15057/30957

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