Family patriarchy and child sex ratios in historical Europe

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive statistics for the Patriarchy Index and its components for 316 regional populations of Europe (NAPP/Mosaic combined).

Component	Mean	Std. Deviation	Minimum	Maximum
Patriarchy Index	13,30	5,59	4	36
Female heads	0,12	0,06	0,00	0,29
Young brides	0,08	0,12	0,00	0,72
Older wives	0,21	0,08	0,00	0,37
Females as non-kin	0,20	0,13	0,00	0,73
Younger household head	0,12	0,12	0,00	0,68
Neolocal	0,53	0,27	0,01	0,97
Lateral relatives	0,18	0,17	0,00	0,90
Elderly without relatives	0,19	0,11	0,00	0,56
Boy as last child	0,50	0,06	0,29	0,81
Patrilocality	0,25	0,23	0,01	0,94
Valid N (listwise)	316

Source: Mosaic/NAPP data. Note: for primary sources of the Mosaic and NAPP data and the full list of items, see section D of the Supplemental (online).

Figure 1. Patriarchy Index in the NAPP/Mosaic dataset (316 regions).

Notes: Each point on the map represents the centroid of one Mosaic/NAPP regional population as defined in the text. Source: Mosaic/NAPP data.

Figure 2. Child sex ratios in the NAPP/Mosaic dataset (316 regions).

Notes: Each point on the map represents the centroid of one Mosaic/NAPP regional population as defined in the text. Source: Mosaic/NAPP data.

Figure 3. Patriarchy Index and child sex ratios in the NAPP/Mosaic dataset (316 regions).

Source: Mosaic/NAPP data.

Table 2. Patriarchy Index and child sex ratios.

	Dependent variable: the relative number of boys (by age group)
	0-4			0-1	1-5	5-9
	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)
Patriarchy Index	0.002***	0.002***	0.001*	0.005***	0.001	0.002**
	(0.000)	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)
Demog./census quality controls	NO	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Additional controls	NO	NO	YES	YES	YES	YES
Observations	316	308	308	280	308	308
Deviance	2,260	1,112	823.9	9,437	898.5	891
D2	0.012	0.510	0.637	0.117	0.622	0.594
Moran’s I	0.243***	0.200***	0.201***	0.005	0.240***	0.243***

Standard errors in parentheses; *** p<0.01, ** p<0.05, * p<0.1. Coefficients estimated using GLM (see text for more details)

Table 3. Patriarchy Index and child sex ratios, restricted samples.

	Dependent variable: the relative number of boys (by age group)
	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)	(7)	(8)
	Panel A: Excluding the UK locations
	0–1		0–4		1–5		5–9
Patriarchy Index	0.006***	0.004***	0.001**	0.003**	0.001***	0.003**	0.003***	0.004***
	(0.000)	(0.001)	(0.000)	(0.001)	(0.000)	(0.001)	(0.000)	(0.001)
Controls	NO	YES	NO	YES	NO	YES	NO	YES
Observations	197	192	225	220	225	220	225	220
Deviance	8,684	8,427	417.3	310.1	434.2	348.2	404.9	331.8
D2	0.015	0.042	0.013	0.261	0.022	0.208	0.074	0.236
Moran’s I	0.005	−0.001	0.190***	0.092**	0.172***	0.098***	0.182***	0.134***
	Panel B: Only rural locations
	0–1		0–4		1–5		5–9
Patriarchy Index	0.008***	0.007***	0.002***	0.004***	0.002***	0.003***	0.002***	0.003**
	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)
Controls	NO	YES	NO	YES	NO	YES	NO	YES
Observations	138	137	161	160	161	160	161	160
Deviance	8,309	8,054	310.9	223.6	337.4	260.9	290.3	238.3
D2	0.021	0.051	0.026	0.299	0.027	0.246	0.048	0.217
Moran’s I	−0.006	−0.033	0.156***	0.034	0.135***	0.034	0.206***	0.138***

Standard errors in parentheses; *** p < 0.01, ** p < 0.05, * p < 0.1. Coefficients estimated using GLM (see text for more details).

Table 4. Dimensions of patriarchy and child sex ratios.

	Dependent variable: the relative number of boys
	Age-group
	0–4					0–1	1–5	5–9
	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)	(7)	(8)
Male dominance	0.002***				0.002***	0.002**	0.003***	0.002***
	(0.001)				(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)
Older generation		−0.001			−0.003***	−0.001	−0.004***	−0.004***
		(0.001)			(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)
Patrilocality			0.004***		0.006***	0.015***	0.007***	0.007***
			(0.002)		(0.002)	(0.002)	(0.002)	(0.002)
Son preference				0.007*	0.003	−0.000	0.003	0.017***
				(0.004)	(0.004)	(0.004)	(0.004)	(0.004)
Observations	308	308	308	308	308	280	308	308
Deviance	817.9	825.9	820.3	823.8	800.3	9,399	858.5	836.1
D2	0.640	0.636	0.639	0.637	0.647	0.152	0.703	0.685

Standard errors in parentheses; *** p < 0.01, ** p < 0.05, * p < 0.1. Coefficients estimated using GLM (see text for more details). All specifications include the full set of controls.

Table 5. Components of the Patriarchy Index and child sex ratios.

	Dependent variable: the relative number of boys (age group 0–4)
	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)	(7)	(8)	(9)	(10)	(11)
Female heads	0.121***										0.139***
	(0.038)										(0.048)
Young brides		0.223***									0.126***
		(0.034)									(0.042)
Older wives			−0.158***								−0.099*
			(0.042)								(0.054)
Female as non-kin				−0.087***							−0.029
				(0.023)							(0.031)
Younger household head					−0.104***						−0.027
					(0.020)						(0.028)
Neolocal						0.034***					0.089***
						(0.013)					(0.029)
Lateral relatives							−0.006				−0.093**
							(0.024)				(0.038)
Elderly without relatives								0.139***			0.084**
								(0.022)			(0.036)
Boy as last child									0.340***		0.238***
									(0.067)		(0.070)
Patrilocality										0.073***	0.231***
										(0.019)	(0.036)
Obs.	308	308	308	308	308	308	308	308	308	308	308
Deviance	816.9	784.6	813.2	812.5	800.3	820.5	827.2	788.2	801.8	812.8	664.8
D2	0.640	0.654	0.639	0.639	0.643	0.637	0.633	0.652	0.645	0.639	0.707

Standard errors in parentheses; *** p < 0.01, ** p < 0.05, * p < 0.1. Coefficients estimated using GLM (see text for more details). All specifications include the full set of controls.

Table A1. Descriptive statistics.

	Obs.	Mean	St. Dev.	Min.	Max.
Patriarchy Index	316	13.3	5.6	4	36
Infant mortality rate	308	192.4	89.8	62	438
Child-woman ratio	316	519.6	114.4	212.1	923.8
Fertility onset	316	0.08	0.27	0	1
Infants (over children aged 0–4)	316	0.14	0.082	0	0.34
Census quality	316	2.15	0.83	1	3
Ruggedness (ln)	316	2.43	1.11	−1.83	5.38
F/M Age-heaping (Wtot)	316	1.10	0.30	0.40	2.22
Rural	316	0.82	0.32	0	1
Population potential (ln)	316	10.7	1.7	1.10	15.23
Land suitability	313	0.48	0.30	0	0.96
Share croplands	316	9.89	10.11	0	52.43

For the definition of Patriarchy Index, see the main text. For definitions of the remaining variables, see below.

Table A2. Patriarchy and child sex ratios (full model results).

	Dependent variable: the relative number of boys (by age group)
	0–4				0–1	1–5	5–9
	(1)	(2)	(3)		(4)	(5)	(6)
Patriarchy Index	0.002***	0.002***	0.001*		0.005***	0.001	0.002**
	(0.000)	(0.001)	(0.001)		(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)
Infant mortality rate		−0.000***	−0.000***		−0.000***	−0.000***	−0.000***
		(0.000)	(0.000)		(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)
Child-woman ratio		0.000***	0.000		0.000***	0.000*	0.000***
		(0.000)	(0.000)		(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)
Fertility onset		0.040***	0.019***		0.017**	0.020***	0.028***
		(0.007)	(0.007)		(0.007)	(0.007)	(0.008)
Infants (over children aged 0–4)		0.195***	0.141***		−0.027	0.117***	0.061
		(0.037)	(0.039)		(0.041)	(0.037)	(0.039)
Other census		−0.003	−0.033***		−0.021**	−0.024***	−0.012
		(0.008)	(0.009)		(0.009)	(0.008)	(0.009)
Pre-modern census		−0.066***	−0.063***		−0.042***	−0.059***	−0.047***
		(0.005)	(0.005)		(0.005)	(0.005)	(0.005)
Ruggedness		0.024***	0.007***		0.008***	0.007***	0.007***
		(0.002)	(0.002)		(0.002)	(0.002)	(0.002)
F/M Age-heaping (Wtot)		−0.009	−0.010		−0.012	−0.005	0.001
		(0.008)	(0.008)		(0.008)	(0.008)	(0.008)
Proportion rural			0.001		−0.027***	0.009	0.020**
			(0.009)		(0.009)	(0.009)	(0.009)
Population potential			−0.010***		−0.010***	−0.010***	−0.008***
			(0.001)		(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)
Land suitability			−0.058***		−0.044***	−0.058***	−0.058***
			(0.007)		(0.007)	(0.007)	(0.007)
Share croplands			0.000**		0.000*	0.000**	0.000*
			(0.000)		(0.000)	(0.000)	(0.000)
Observations	316	308	308		280	308	308
Deviance	2,260	1,112	823.9		9,437	898.5	891
D2	0.012	0.510	0.637		0.117	0.622	0.594
Moran’s I	0.243***	0.200***	0.201***		0.005	0.240***	0.243***

Standard errors in parentheses; *** p < 0.01, ** p < 0.05, * p < 0.1. Coefficients estimated using GLM (see text for more details).

Table A3. No prior weights (excluding locations with less than 1,000 children).

	Dependent variable: the relative number of boys (by age group)
	0–1		0–4		1–5		5–9
	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)	(7)	(8)
Patriarchy Index	0.002	0.003	0.005***	0.005***	0.006***	0.005***	0.007***	0.005***
	(0.001)	(0.002)	(0.000)	(0.001)	(0.000)	(0.001)	(0.000)	(0.001)
Controls	NO	YES	NO	YES	NO	YES	NO	YES
Observations	187	187	187	187	187	187	187	187
Deviance
D2	0.004	0.381	0.072	0.631	0.097	0.643	0.126	0.668
Moran’s I	0.113***	0.123***	0.514***	0.326***	0.481***	0.302***	0.486***	0.283***

Standard errors in parentheses; *** p < 0.01, ** p < 0.05, * p < 0.1. Coefficients estimated using GLM (see text for more details).

Table A4. Quasibinomial model (accounting for overdispersion).

	Dependent variable: the relative number of boys (by age group)
	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)	(7)	(8)
	Panel A: Excluding the UK locations
	0–1		0–4		1–5		5–9
Patriarchy Index	0.005*	0.004	0.001*	0.003**	0.001*	0.003*	0.003***	0.004***
	(0.003)	(0.008)	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)
Controls	NO	YES	NO	YES	NO	YES	NO	YES
Observations	197	192	225	220	225	220	225	220
Deviance	8,684	8,427	417.3	310.1	434.2	348.2	404.9	331.8
D2	0.015	0.042	0.013	0.261	0.022	0.208	0.074	0.236
Moran’s I	0.005	−0.001	0.190***	0.092**	0.172***	0.098***	0.182***	0.134***
	Panel B: Only rural locations
	0–1		0–4		1–5		5–9
Patriarchy Index	0.008*	0.007	0.002**	0.004***	0.002**	0.003**	0.002***	0.003*
	(0.001)	(0.009)	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.002)	(0.001)	(0.002)
Controls	NO	YES	NO	YES	NO	YES	NO	YES
Observations	138	137	161	160	161	160	161	160
Deviance	8,309	8,054	310.9	223.6	337.4	260.9	290.3	238.3
D2	0.021	0.051	0.026	0.299	0.027	0.246	0.048	0.217
Moran’s I	−0.006	−0.033	0.156***	0.034	0.135***	0.034	0.206***	0.138***

Standard errors in parentheses; *** p < 0.01, ** p < 0.05, * p < 0.1. Coefficients estimated using GLM using a quasi-binomial function (see text for more details).

Table A5. Spatial autocorrelation. Moran’s Eigenvectors.

	Dependent variable: the relative number of boys (by age group)
	0–4	1–5	5–9
	(3)	(5)	(7)
Patriarchy Index	0.002**	0.001	0.002**
	(0.001)	(0.001)	(0.001)
Eigenvectors	YES	YES	YES
Controls	YES	YES	YES
Observations	308	308	308
Deviance
D2	0.739	0.769	0.746
Moran’s I	0.043	0.024	0.038

Standard errors in parentheses; *** p < 0.01, ** p < 0.05, * p < 0.1. Coefficients estimated using GLM (see text for more details). As well as the full set of controls, these specifications include a set of vectors that represents the spatial autocorrelation present in the residuals of the baseline model.

Table A6. The components of the PI and child sex ratios (different ages).

	Dependent variable: the relative number of boys
	0–1	0–4	1–5	5–9
	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
Female heads	0.257***	0.139***	0.145***	0.217***
	(0.048)	(0.048)	(0.047)	(0.050)
Young brides	−0.034	0.126***	0.150***	0.079*
	(0.042)	(0.042)	(0.039)	(0.042)
Older wives	−0.053	−0.099*	−0.108**	−0.230***
	(0.055)	(0.054)	(0.053)	(0.056)
Female as non-kin	−0.010	−0.029	−0.000	0.062*
	(0.032)	(0.031)	(0.031)	(0.032)
Younger household head	−0.211***	−0.027	−0.039	−0.029
	(0.029)	(0.028)	(0.028)	(0.029)
Neolocal	−0.075**	0.089***	0.105***	0.162***
	(0.030)	(0.029)	(0.029)	(0.030)
Lateral relatives	−0.319***	−0.093**	−0.130***	−0.130***
	(0.040)	(0.038)	(0.037)	(0.039)
Elderly without relatives	0.129***	0.084**	0.081**	−0.000
	(0.037)	(0.036)	(0.036)	(0.038)
Boy as last child	0.449***	0.238***	0.198***	0.422***
	(0.072)	(0.070)	(0.067)	(0.072)
Patrilocality	0.440***	0.231***	0.259***	0.328***
	(0.037)	(0.036)	(0.036)	(0.038)
Observations	280	308	308	308
Deviance	9,058	664.8	706.8	690.7

Standard errors in parentheses; *** p < 0.01, ** p < 0.05, * p < 0.1. Coefficients estimated using GLM (see text for more details). All specifications include the full set of controls.