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A Cliometric Model of Unified Growth: Family Organization and Economic Growth in the Long Run of History

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Cliometrics of the Family

Part of the book series: Studies in Economic History ((SEH))

Abstract

This chapter explores the role of gender equality on the long-run economic and demographic development path of industrialized countries. It accounts for changes in fertility, technology and income per capita in the transition from stagnation to sustained growth. Our unified cliometric growth model of female empowerment suggests that changes in gender relations, triggered by endogenous skill-biased technological progress, induce women to invest in skilled education and begin a process of human capital accumulation. At the same time, more time spent by women in education increases the opportunity cost of having children and reduces fertility. This positive feedback loop generates both a demographic and an economic transition.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See Cuberes and Teignier-Baque (2012) for a review of the empirical and theoretical literature on gender equality and economic growth.

  2. 2.

    Among the first publications are Becker (1960), Mincer (1962) and Becker (1965).

  3. 3.

    Within the framework of neoclassical growth model with endogenous fertility, the authors attempt to determine the optimal population growth rate.

  4. 4.

    The authors do not focus on economic development and leave aside the question of how changes in gender heterogeneity may affect long-run growth.

  5. 5.

    Males and females have the same abilities and preferences (contrary to Galor and Weil 1996) but differ in terms of time cost of childbearing.

  6. 6.

    A recent study of the Observatoire des inégalités (using the Insee “Emploi du temps 2009–2010” survey) shows that women still spend twice as much time as men taking care and rearing children.

  7. 7.

    Contrary to most papers with a quantity-quality trade-off, in which education is a decision taken by parents (see, for example, Galor and Moav 2002 or Lagerlöf 2003), we consider that educational investments are those of individuals themselves (as in Cervellati and Sunde 2005).

  8. 8.

    Skilled labour constitutes adult workers who have invested a fraction of time in schooling when young.

  9. 9.

    Galor and Moav (2002) already introduced two types of individuals: a quality type, a, and a quantity type, b, of adult individuals, as a determinant of offspring’s quality.

  10. 10.

    Such as in Cervellati and Sunde (2007).

  11. 11.

    Technological progress reduces the adaptability of existing human capital for the new technological environment. Education lessens the adverse effect of technological progress.

  12. 12.

    We will talk here about high fertility as quantity and high human capital as quality.

  13. 13.

    The utility function reflects the trade-off between the resources devoted to own consumption and to raise children.

  14. 14.

    This generates a link between generations (altruistic preferences).

  15. 15.

    \( d\left(\mathcal{h}\right) \) denotes the distribution of “cultural capital” within a given generation of new individuals.

  16. 16.

    Becker (1960) was the first to introduce the distinction between child quantity and child quality, followed by Becker and Lewis (1973) and Willis (1973).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, BETA/CNRS (UMR 7522), University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France

    Claude Diebolt

  2. Department of Economic History, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Faustine Perrin

Authors
  1. Claude Diebolt
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  2. Faustine Perrin
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Correspondence to Claude Diebolt .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. BETA/CNRS, University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France

    Claude Diebolt

  2. Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Auke Rijpma , Sarah Carmichael , Selin Dilli  & Charlotte Störmer , ,  & 

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Diebolt, C., Perrin, F. (2019). A Cliometric Model of Unified Growth: Family Organization and Economic Growth in the Long Run of History. In: Diebolt, C., Rijpma, A., Carmichael, S., Dilli, S., Störmer, C. (eds) Cliometrics of the Family. Studies in Economic History. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99480-2_2

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