Roots of Gender Equality: the Persistent Effect of Beguinages on Attitudes Towards Women
with E. Roca
This paper is concerned with the historical roots of gender equality. It proposes and empirically assesses a new class of determinants of gender equality based on the increase in the opportunity cost of marrying for women. We show how temporarily enlarging women's options can persistently improve gender equality. For the specific Belgian context, we relate gender-equality levels in the 19th century to the presence of medieval, female-only communities called beguinages that allowed women to remain single amidst a society that advocated the opposite. Combining precise beguinage location with 19th-century census data, we document that the gender gap in literacy reduced more in municipalities where beguine communities settled. Using changes in the political organisation whereby some villages became more attractive to beguines, we assuage endogeneity concerns and relate the variation in gender equality to the presence of beguinages. Our results are in line with the extensive evidence documenting the persistence of gender norms and culture.
with E. Roca
This paper is concerned with the historical roots of gender equality. It proposes and empirically assesses a new class of determinants of gender equality based on the increase in the opportunity cost of marrying for women. We show how temporarily enlarging women's options can persistently improve gender equality. For the specific Belgian context, we relate gender-equality levels in the 19th century to the presence of medieval, female-only communities called beguinages that allowed women to remain single amidst a society that advocated the opposite. Combining precise beguinage location with 19th-century census data, we document that the gender gap in literacy reduced more in municipalities where beguine communities settled. Using changes in the political organisation whereby some villages became more attractive to beguines, we assuage endogeneity concerns and relate the variation in gender equality to the presence of beguinages. Our results are in line with the extensive evidence documenting the persistence of gender norms and culture.