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The European Marriage Pattern and Its Measurement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2016

Sarah G. Carmichael ,
Alexandra de Pleijt ,
Jan Luiten van Zanden  and
Tine De Moor
Sarah G. Carmichael
Affiliation:
Sarah G. Carmichael is post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Economic and Social History, Utrecht University, Drift 6, 3512 BS, Utrecht, The Netherlands. E-mail: s.g.carmichael@uu.nl.
Alexandra de Pleijt
Affiliation:
Alexandra de Pleijt is post-doctoral researcher at the London School of Economics, Department of Economic History, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, United Kingdom. Email: sandradepleijt@gmail.com
Jan Luiten van Zanden
Affiliation:
Jan Luiten van Zanden is Professor, Department of Economic and Social History, Utrecht University, Drift 6, 3512 BS, Utrecht, The Netherlands. E-mail: Utrecht University, j.l.vanzanden@uu.nl.
Tine De Moor
Affiliation:
Tine De Moor is Professor, Department of Economic and Social History, Utrecht University, Drift 6, 3512 BS, Utrecht, The Netherlands. E-mail: Utrecht University, t.demoor@uu.nl.
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Abstract

We review different interpretations of the European Marriage Pattern (EMP) and explore how they relate to the discussion of the link between the EMP and economic growth. Recently Dennison and Ogilvie have argued that the EMP did not contribute to growth in Early Modern Europe. We argue that the link between the EMP and economic growth is incorrectly conceptualized. Age of marriage is not a good scale for the degree to which countries were characterized by EMP. Rather, the economic effects of the EMP should be seen in the broader context of how marriage responds to changing economic circumstance.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 76 , Issue 1 , March 2016 , pp. 196 - 204
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 2016 

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Footnotes

We thank the editors of the Journal of Economic History and an anonymous referee for their comments on an earlier version of this Note. We also thank Winny Bierman for her editorial assistance.

References

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