← All publications

How the West "Invented" Fertility Restriction

Nico Voigtländer, Hans-Joachim Voth

American Economic Review 103(6), pp. 2227-2264 (2013)

Published version Data

Abstract

We analyze the rise of the first socio-economic institution in history that limited fertility long before the Demographic Transition. The "European Marriage Pattern" raised the marriage age of women and ensured that many remained celibate.

Keywords
fertility, European Marriage Pattern, Malthusian economy, demography, long-run growth
DOI
10.1257/aer.103.6.2227
Canonical
https://www.jvoth.com/papers/how-the-west-invented-fertility-restriction.html

Nico Voigtländer, Hans-Joachim Voth (2013). “How the West "Invented" Fertility Restriction.” American Economic Review.