题目：Human Capital and Intergenerational Mobility in Chinese Clans, 1300-1850

主讲人：Carol H. Shiue，Associate Professor of Economics, University of Colorado, Boulder

Abstract

This paper investigates the role of kin networks in promoting status among clans that resided in Tongcheng County, Anhwei from the 14th to mid-19th century. In particular, I identify individual that had signs of wealth and status in society, and ask what is the extent to which the extended family—both horizontally across members within the same generation, as well as vertically across generations—contributed to the status of sons in the lineage. I find the influence of extended horizontally-related kin was weak in comparison to the father’s and grandfather’s impact, suggesting that even in a society with relatively strong traditions of kinship bonds and where lineages are a recognized form of corporate organization, the household predominates as an economic decision-making unit. This result sheds light on why the cost of education significantly impacted fertility among households that pursued civil service as their primary strategy to increase or maintain their status.