Based on an economic-demographic model of the peasant household subject to the institutional rules of an patriarchy stem family system, this paper shows how and why the fertility transition commenced in rural Japan between 1925 and 1938

“Patriarchy and Fertility: Japan and Sweden, 1860-1960” presents a life cycle model of the patriarchal peasant family. It applies the model to an analysis of the decline in fertility in both Japan and Sweden over the period 1880-1960, demonstrating that it offers a convincing explanation why...