Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-zzh7m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T00:46:54.957Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Gender Discrimination in Property Rights: Six Centuries of Commons Governance in the Alps

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2016

Marco Casari  and
Maurizio Lisciandra
Marco Casari
Affiliation:
Marco Casari is Professor, Department of Economics, University of Bologna, Piazza Scaravilli 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy. E-mail: marco.casari@unibo.it.
Maurizio Lisciandra
Affiliation:
Maurizio Lisciandra is Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of Messina, Piazza Pugliatti 1, 98122 Messina, Italy. E-mail: mlisciandra@unime.it.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

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 villages over a period of six centuries (thirteenth-nineteenth). 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 village insiders. This institutional change also had implications for the population growth, marriage strategies, and the protection from economic shocks.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 76 , Issue 2 , June 2016 , pp. 559 - 594
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

We thank for their comments: Guido Alfani, Benito Arruñada, Patrizia Battilani, Gabriele Cappelli, Giuseppe Dari Mattiacci, Tine De Moor, Kei Otsuka, Matthias Sutter, Claudio Tagliapietra, and the seminar participants at the ESNIE Summer School, European University Institute, University of Amsterdam, University of Utrecht, Italian Society of Law and Economics Meeting in Bologna, University of Valencia, the Bozen workshop on property rights, the German Law and Economics Meeting in Bozen, the Nonantola workshop on Italian commons, the Italian Economic Association Meeting in Bologna. We also thank two anonymous referees and the Journal co-editors. The usual disclaimer applies.

References

REFERENCES

Aberle, David. “Matrilineal descent in cross-cultural comparison.” In Matrilineal kinship, edited by Schneider, David M. and Gough, Kathleen, 655–730. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1961.Google Scholar
Alesina, Alberto, Giuliano, Paola, and Nunn, Nathan. “On the Origins of Gender Roles: Women and the Plough.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 128, no. 2 2013: 469–530.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alfani, Guido. “Le Partecipanze: il caso di Nonantola.” In La gestione delle risorse collettive nell—Italia settentrionale (secoli XII-XVIII), edited by Alfani, Guido and Rao, Riccardo, 48–62. Milano: Franco Angeli, 2011.Google Scholar
Boserup, Ester. Woman's Role in Economic Development. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd, 1970.Google Scholar
Casari, Marco. “Emergence of Endogenous Legal Institutions: Property Rights and Community Governance in the Italian Alps.” Journal of Economic History 67, no. 1 2007: 191–226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casari, Marco, and Lisciandra, Maurizio. “L—evoluzione della trasmissione ereditaria delle risorse collettive in Trentino tra i secoli XIII e XIX.” In La gestione delle risorse collettive nell—Italia settentrionale (secoli XII–XVIII), edited by Alfani, Guido and Rao, Riccardo, 17–31. Milano: Franco Angeli, 2011.Google Scholar
Casari, Marco, and Lisciandra, Maurizio. “Gender Discrimination in Property Rights.” IZA Discussion Papers No. 7938, Bonn, Germany, 2014.Google Scholar
Casari, Marco, and Lisciandra, Maurizio. “Gender Discrimination and Common Property Resources.” IZA Discussion Papers No. 9061, Bonn, Germany, 2015.Google Scholar
Cole, John W., and Eric R., Wolf. The Hidden Frontier: Ecology and Ethnicity in an Alpine Valley. New York: Academic Press, 1974.Google Scholar
De Moor, Tine. “The Silent Revolution: A New Perspective on the Emergence of Commons, Guilds, and other Forms of Corporate Collective Action in Western Europe.” International Review of Social History 53, no. S16 2008: 179–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Moor, Tine. “Avoiding Tragedies: A Flemish Common and its Commoners under the Pressure of Social and Economic Change during the Eighteenth Century.” Economic History Review 62, no. 1 2009: 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Divale, William T. “Migration, External Warfare and Matrilocal Residence.” Behavior Science Research 9, no. 2 1974: 75–133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ember, Melvin, and Carol R., Ember. “The Conditions Favoring Matrilocal Versus Patrilocal Residence.” American Anthropologist 73, no. 3 1971: 571–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flinn, Mark V. “Uterine vs. Agnatic Kinship Variability and Associated Cross-Cousin Marriage Preferences: An Evolutionary Biological Analysis.” In Natural Selection and Social Behavior, edited by Richard D. Alexander and Donald W. Tinkle, 439–75. New York: Chiron Press, 1981.Google Scholar
Gaulin, Steven J. C., and Schlegel, Alice. “Paternity Confidence and Paternal Investment: A Cross-Cultural Test of a Sociobiological Hypothesis.” Ethology and Sociobiology 1, no. 4 1980: 301–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, Patrick J. “Ethnographic Atlas Codebook.” World Cultures 10, no. 1 1998: 86–136.Google Scholar
Hardin, Garrett. “The Tragedy of the Commons.” Science (AAAS) 162, no. 3859 1968: 1243–48.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hartung, John. “Matrilineal Inheritance: New Theory and Analysis.” Behavioral and Brain Sciences 8, no. 4 1985: 661–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holden, Clare J., and Mace, Ruth. “Spread of Cattle Led to the Loss of Matrilineal Descent in Africa: A Coevolutionary Analysis.” Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 270, no. 1532 2003: 2425–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inama, Vigilio. Fondo e la sua storia. Rovereto, TN: Mercurio, 1931.Google Scholar
Jones, Doug. “The Matrilocal Tribe.” Human Nature 22, no. 1–2 2011: 177–200.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keesing, Roger M. Kin Groups and Social Structure. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1975.Google Scholar
Mace, Ruth, and Clare J., Holden. “A Phylogenetic Approach to Cultural Evolution.” Trends in Ecology and Evolution 20, no. 3 2005: 116–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murdock, George P. “ Ethnographic Atlas: A Summary. ” Ethnology 6, no. 2 1967: 109–236.Google Scholar
Murdock, George P., and Douglas R., White. “Standard Cross-Cultural Sample.” Ethnology 8, no. 4 1969: 329–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neeson, Jeanette M. Commoners: Common Right, Enclosure and Social Change in England, 1700–1820. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Netting, Robert McC. Balancing on an Alp, Ecological Change and Continuity in a Swiss Mountain Community. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981.Google Scholar
Ostrom, Elinor. Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rizzoli, Giulio. Il Trentino nella sua condizione politica dei secoli XVIII e XIX. Feltre, BL: Zanussi, 1903.Google Scholar
Rösch, Paul. Südtiroler Erbhöfe: Menschen und Geschichten. Bolzano: Raetia, 1994.Google Scholar
Tagliapietra, Claudio. “A Threshold Hypothesis of Institutional Change: Collective Action in the Italian Alps during the 13th-19th Centuries.” Ph.D. thesis. Mimeo. Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, 2013.Google Scholar
White, Douglas R., Burton, Michael L., and Malcom M., Dow. “Sexual Division of Labor in African Agriculture: A Network Autocorrelation Analysis.” American Anthropologist 83, no. 4 1981: 824–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

References to Data Sources

Andreatta, Giampaolo, and Pace, Silvio. Trentino, autonomia e autogoverno locale. Trento: Saturnia, 1981.Google Scholar
Bellettini, Athos. La popolazione italiana: Un profilo storico. Torino: Einaudi, 1987.Google Scholar
Casetti, Albino. Guida storico-archivistica del Trentino. Collana di monografie della società di Studi per la Venezia Tridentina, Trento, 1961.Google Scholar
Chiocchetti, Bernardino. “Ambiente sociale e movimento demografico a Moena nel XVIII secolo.” Laurea thesis, University of Padova, Department of Literature and Philosophy, 1982–83, 1983.Google Scholar
Chiocchetti, Valentino, and Chiusole, Pio. Romanità e Medioevo nella Vallagarina. Rovereto, TN: Manfrini Editori, 1965.Google Scholar
Consiglio provinciale d—agricoltura pel Tirolo. “Tabelle sulle condizioni agricole forestali economiche.” In Bollettino del Consiglio provinciale d—agricoltura, fasc. 4–12 del 1903 e fasc. 1–9 del 1904. Trento: Monauni, 1903.Google Scholar
Debiasi, Laura. “Contributo allo studio della popolazione del Trentino nel XVII secolo.” In Studi e Ricerche Storiche sulla Regione Trentina, edited by Trentino, C.E.S.. Padova: Stediv, 1953.Google Scholar
Epiboli, Alfonso. “Ambiente sociale e movimento demografico a Borgo Valsugana nella seconda metà del Settecento.” Laurea thesis, University of Padova, Department of Literature and Philosophy, 1976–77, 1977.Google Scholar
Fiebiger, Herbert. Bevölkerung und Wirtschaft Südtirols: eine Darstellung ihrer Situation und ihrer Probleme. Bergisch Gladbach: Heider, 1959.Google Scholar
Fontana, Leone. Bibliografia degli statuti dell—Italia superiore. Torino: Bocca, 1907.Google Scholar
Framba, Lidia. “Ambiente sociale e movimento demografico a Cogolo nel XVIII secolo.” Laurea thesis, University of Padova, Department of Literature and Philosophy, 1977–78, 1978.Google Scholar
Franceschini, Italo. “Uomini e territorio a Piné tra XV e XVIII secolo.” In Storia di Piné: Dalle origini alla seconda metà del XX secolo, edited by Bettotti, Marco, 223–334. Baselga di Piné, TN: Comune di Baselga, 2009.Google Scholar
Giacomoni, Fabio. Carte di regola e statuti delle comunità rurali trentine. 3 vols. Milano: Edizioni Universitarie Jaca, 1991.Google Scholar
Goio, Renata. “Ambiente economico-sociale e movimento demografico a Levico nella seconda metà del Settecento.” Laurea thesis, University of Padova, Department of Literature and Philosophy, 1977–78, 1978.Google Scholar
Malanima, Paolo. L—economia Italiana - Dalla crescita medievale alla crescita contemporanea. Ed. Collana “Le vie della Civiltà.” Bologna: Il Mulino, 2002.Google Scholar
Motta, Loredana. “Aspetti di storia economica e demografica di una valle del Trentino: la Valle del Fersina.” Laurea thesis, University of Bologna, Department of Literature and Philosophy, 1977–78, 1978.Google Scholar
Nequirito, Mauro. Le carte di regola delle comunità trentine, Introduzione storica e repertorio bibliografico. Mantova: G. Arcari Editore, 1988.Google Scholar
Pederiva, Luca. “Ambiente sociale e movimento demografico nella Parrocchia di Fassa nel XVIII secolo.” Laurea thesis, University of Padova, Department of Literature and Philosophy, 1984–85, 1985.Google Scholar
Piva, Jole. “Ambiente economico-sociale e movimento demografico a Pergine nella seconda metà del settecento.” Laurea thesis, University of Padova, Department of Literature and Philosophy, 1980–81, 1981.Google Scholar
Rizzoli, Giulio. Contributo alla storia del diritto statutario del Trentino. Feltre, BL: Zanussi, 1901.Google Scholar
Sartori, Maria. “Ambiente economico-sociale e movimento demografico a Rovereto nel XVIII sec.: (1737–1786).” Laurea thesis, University of Padova, Department of Literature and Philosophy, 1978–79, 1979.Google Scholar
Sartori-Montecroce, Tullio. La comunità di Fiemme e il suo diritto statutario. Cavalese, TN: Magnifica comunità di Fiemme, 2002.Google Scholar
Varesco, Giulio. “Ambiente economico-sociale e movimento demografico a Predazzo nella seconda metà del Settecento.” Laurea thesis, University of Padova, Department of Literature and Philosophy, 1980–81, 1981.Google Scholar
Wopfner, Herrmann. Bergbauernbuch: von Arbeit und Leben des Tiroler Bergbauern in Vervangenheit und Gegenwart. Innsbruck: Wagner, 1954.Google Scholar

Archives

APTN (Archivio Provinciale di Trento).Google Scholar
AST (Archivio di Stato di Trento - Trento Archive), lat. sect., C.12, f. 69 and 72.Google Scholar