YSI-EHES Economic History Graduate Webinar: Karolin Süß

Karolin Süß, doctoral candidate from Ruhr Graduate School in Economics will present her paper: *On the origins of historical inheritance customs,gender norms and economic performance∗

Registration form to attend the webinar: here.

Abstract: Equal inheritance customs in agriculture have been found to contribute to the persistence of more egalitarian gender norms and higher average incomes. However, the origins of these inheritance customs have been largely neglected in the empirical literature. Historical literature names intensive agricultural land use and vineyards in particular as one driver of equal sharing. This paper empirically tests this hypothesis with data from historical maps on vineyards and inheritance rules. Using a linear probability model, I find evidence that viniculture facilitated the adoption of equal inheritance in the territory of modern Baden-W ̈urttemberg. In a second step, I assess the question whether the historical division of labor in vineyards and equal inheritance mutually affect current gender norms and economic performance. Using OLS, I find support for more egalitarian gender norms in terms of parental leave use, female full-time employment and the difference between employment rates in areas of historical vineyards. Counterintuitively, the effect on modern employment rates is negative.