Kumon, Yuzuru (2021) The Deep Roots of Inequality. IAST working paper, n. 21-125, toulouse

[thumbnail of wp_iast_125.pdf]
Preview
Text
Download (1MB) | Preview
Official URL : http://iast.fr/pub/126149

Abstract

This paper uses a new dataset of Japanese village censuses, 1637-1872, to measure inequality in landownership. Surprisingly, lands were relatively equally distributed, and most peasants were de-facto landowners. Further, there was no trend in wealth inequality. This contrasts with Western Europe where wealth inequality was high and increasing. To explain this, I use a linked multi-generational dataset of village censuses to study land transmissions. I find that Japanese households differed from Europeans due to widespread adoption of male heirs when reproduction failed. As non-marginal landowners almost always had an heir, lands were kept in the family. In contrast, elite English male lines failed 25% of the time leading to a highly unequal redistribution of their lands via will or marriage of heiresses. Finally, the institutional differences in adoption had roots in church policy in the 4th century and this may partially explain why Western Europe was more unequal by 1800.

Item Type: Monograph (Working Paper)
Language: English
Date: November 2021
Place of Publication: toulouse
Subjects: B- ECONOMIE ET FINANCE
Divisions: TSE-R (Toulouse)
Institution: Université de Toulouse 1
Site: UT1
Date Deposited: 12 Nov 2021 09:59
Last Modified: 12 Nov 2021 09:59
OAI Identifier: oai:tse-fr.eu:126149
URI: https://publications.ut-capitole.fr/id/eprint/43979
View Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year