DP13348 Female autonomy generates superstars in long-term development: Evidence from 16th to 19th century Europe
Author(s): | Jörg Baten, Alexandra de Pleijt |
Publication Date: | December 2018 |
Date Revised: | May 2021 |
Keyword(s): | Early modern growth, Female autonomy, human capital formation |
JEL(s): | N13, N33, O40 |
Programme Areas: | Economic History |
Link to this Page: | cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=13348 |
Many countries did not accumulate sufficient human capital to be successful, because they did not make use of the potential of the female half of their population. Other countries did the opposite and became "superstars" and pioneers in long-term human capital development. This view is supported by studying female autonomy and numeracy indicators of 27 countries and 153 regions in Europe between 1500 and 1900. We are using the demographic indicator age at marriage as a proxy indicator for female autonomy. We approach endogeneity issues by exploiting exogenous variation in gender-biased agricultural specialization.