前工业化时期日本与西欧的收养、继承与财富不平等

中文摘要

本文利用1637—1872年的日本村庄人口普查数据衡量土地所有权不平等。令人意外的是，不平等程度较低且保持稳定，这与欧洲形成对比——欧洲的不平等程度较高且不断上升。为解释这一现象，我研究了代际土地传承。我发现，没有儿子的日本家庭会收养男性继承人，从而将土地保留在家族内部。相比之下，由于收养并不常见，英格兰精英男性世系有20%—30%的概率断绝，导致其土地被高度不平等地重新分配。最后，收养方面的制度差异根源在于四世纪的教会政策，这或许能部分解释为何到1800年欧洲更为不平等。

Abstract

This paper uses Japanese village censuses, 1637–1872, to measure inequality in landownership. Surprisingly, inequality was low and stable, unlike in Europe, where it was high and increasing. To explain this, I study inter-generational land transmissions. I find that Japanese households without sons adopted male heirs, thereby keeping lands in the family. In contrast, elite English male lines failed 20–30 percent of the time as adoptions were uncommon, leading to a highly unequal redistribution of their lands. Finally, the institutional differences in adoption had roots in fourth-century church policy, and this may partially explain why Europe was more unequal by 1800.