Revolutionary Transition: Inheritance Change and Fertility Decline

Victor Gay (), Paula Gobbi and Goñi, Marc

No 18607, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: We test Le Play’s (1875) hypothesis that the French Revolution contributed to France’s early fertility decline by imposing equal partition of inheritance among all children, including women. We combine new data on local inheritance rules before the Revolution and individual-level demographic data from historical sources and crowdsourced genealogies. Difference-in-differences and regression-discontinuity estimates show that the inheritance reforms enacted during the Revolution reduced completed fertility by 0.5 children. A key mechanism was the desire to avoid land fragmentation across generations. These reforms closed the fertility gap between regions with different historical inheritance rules and crucially contributed to France’s demographic transition.

Keywords: Demographic transition; Fertility; Inheritance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D10 J10 K11 N33 O10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-11
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Related works:
Journal Article: Revolutionary Transition: Inheritance Change and Fertility Decline (2026)
Working Paper: Revolutionary Transition: Inheritance Change and Fertility Decline (2026)
Working Paper: Revolutionary Transition: Inheritance Changeand Fertility Decline (2023)
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