Gender Discrimination in Property Rights

32 Pages Posted: 15 Feb 2014

See all articles by Marco Casari

Marco Casari

University of Bologna - Department of Economics

Maurizio Lisciandra

LUMSA University

Abstract

Starting from the medieval period, women in the Italian Alps experienced a progressive erosion in property rights over the commons. We collected documents about the evolution of inheritance regulations on collective land issued by hundreds of peasant communities over a period of six centuries (13th-19th). Based on this original dataset, we provide a long-term perspective of decentralized institutional change in which gender-biased inheritance systems emerged as a defensive measure to preserve the wealth of community insiders. This institutional change had implications also for the protection from economic shocks, for population growth, and for marriage strategies.

Keywords: land rights, endogamy, migrations, common property

JEL Classification: J16, N53, Q20

Suggested Citation

Casari, Marco and Lisciandra, Maurizio, Gender Discrimination in Property Rights. IZA Discussion Paper No. 7938, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2396433 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2396433

Marco Casari (Contact Author)

University of Bologna - Department of Economics ( email )

Strada Maggiore 45
Bologna, 40125
Italy

Maurizio Lisciandra

LUMSA University

Department of Law, Economics, and Communication
Via Filippo Parlatore 65
Palermo, 90145
Italy

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.lumsa.it/en

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