Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/180278 
Year of Publication: 
2018
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 7016
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
Voigtländer and Voth argue that the Black Death shifted England towards pastoral agriculture, increasing wages for unmarried women, thereby delaying female marriage, lowering fertility, and unleashing economic growth. We show that this argument does not hold. Its crucial assumption is inconsistent with the evidence: women wanting to do pastoral work after the Black Death did not have to remain unmarried, so improved pastoral opportunities did not necessitate later marriage. There is no consensus that late female marriage emerged after the Black Death. Furthermore, the relationship between pastoralism and female marriage age in England provides no support for this argument.
Subjects: 
European marriage pattern
black death
land-labour ratio
arable and pastoral agriculture
JEL: 
E02
J12
J13
N13
N33
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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