What hypotheses can research on son preference in Asia offer for European historical demographic research?

ABSTRACT

What insights can studies of son preference in Asia offer European historical demographers? Research on Asia is far easier than on historical Europe, given the scope for in-depth studies of a contemporary phenomenon instead of using available historical data. Levels of sex-selection have also been high in Asia, which makes it easier to analyze its correlates. This enables developing hypotheses that might be useful in studies of historical Europe. Studies in Asia indicate that, in rigidly patrilineal societies, son preference forms part of households’ strategy for managing their assets and risks. The extent of sex-selection varied enormously over time within a given setting, rising sharply when households faced heightened risk --- such as war, or the unwinding of Communist regimes that offered communal access to resources --- and decreasing as modern state pension systems mature. These household strategies also affect the life-chances of other household members, including marriage restriction to reduce asset fragmentation. Kinship systems shape the rights of different categories of household members and the norms of cooperation between them — including between generations, spouses, and siblings of different genders and birth orders. This paper offers some hypotheses on the implications of variations in patrilineal kinship systems in Europe for the life-chances of different categories of household members. For purposes of constructing hypotheses that can be tested if data permit, the European kinship systems are contrasted in a stylized way, as those based on a ‘lifeboat’ ethic of jettisoning non-heirs from the household, versus those based on a more ‘corporate’ ethic in which the household seeks to support all its members. Historical demographers working on Europe have rich fields to explore, given the region’s diversity: of kinship systems, of economic opportunities, and of exposure to major risks such as wars, famine, and the establishment and dis-establishment of Communism.

KEYWORDS:

• Son preference
• kinship systems
• household resource allocation
• gender bias
• historical demography
• Europe
• Asia

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to Francisco Beltrán Tapia and Mikolaj Szołtysek for their valuable inputs and comments on this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. The enormous variation in family forms in Europe has been extensively studied, as also comparisons of family forms across Eurasia. See for example, Wall et al. (1983), Engelen and Wolf (2005), and Tsuya et al. (2010). Some of this literature is summarized in Szoltysek (2020).

2. See for example, Attane and Guilmoto (2007), and Das Gupta et al (2003).

3. There is a very large literature on this, much of which is summarized in Guinnane (1997).

4. See for example, Berkner (1972), Gaunt (1983), Plakans (1989), and Sorensen (1989).

5. This is another large literature, but see for example, Reher (1998), and the references in footnote 2. These regional variations and comparisons with Asian data are being explored in greater detail (Szoltysek et al, 2022).

6. Most societies allow some scope for daughters to inherit in the absence of sons. However, in rigidly patrilineal societies such as China and Northwest India, it is considered very shameful for a man to be brought into a household as the resident son-in-law (Das Gupta, 1999). In Europe, there was much variation in the ease with which parents without sons could transmit their assets to their daughters, see for example, Fauve-Chamoux (2003).

7. See for example, Dribe and Lundh (2005).