Revolutionary Transition: Inheritance Change and Fertility Decline

Victor Gay (), Paula Gobbi () and Marc Goñi
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Victor Gay: IAST - Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - Comue de Toulouse - Communauté d'universités et établissements de Toulouse - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement
Paula Gobbi: ULB - Université libre de Bruxelles, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research
Marc Goñi: UiB - University of Bergen, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research

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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: Inheritance; French Revolution; Fertility; Demographic transition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-10-24
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04285818v4
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Published in Journal of Political Economy, In press, ⟨10.1086/739821⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04285818

DOI: 10.1086/739821

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