Peasant Marriage in Nineteenth-Century RussiaAvdeev Alexandre, Blum Alain, Troitskaia Irina
During the nineteenth century, the Russian family existed within a particular institutional and social context, very different from that of Western Europe. The constraints surrounding and shaping family formation, and especially marriage, were very strong and diverse in nature. They arose jointly from serfdom and the landowner’s power associated with it, from kinship prohibitions and religious interdictions, and from the power held by the rural community. One of these elements disappeared abruptly in 1861 with the abolition of serfdom which had imposed severe limitations on the possibility of choosing a spouse outside the landowner’s estate. Using information contained in the revision lists (taxation counts) and parish registers, this article analyses marriage practices among Count Sheremetev’s peasant serfs before 1861, as well as the first transformations following reform, in three Russian villages near Moscow belonging to this Count’s estate. Although the abolition of serfdom led in particular to an increase in marital migrations, other characteristics such as marriage’s patrilocal nature remained unchanged, testifying to the deep cultural roots of particular marriage practices.
The Frequency of Twin Births in France. The Triple Influence of Biology, Medicine and Family Behaviour
Pison Gilles, Couvert Nadège
The proportion of twin births stood at 15 per 1,000 in France in the early eighteenth century and returned to this level in 2000 after falling substantially in the intervening period. It has risen by 70% since the early 1970s under the dual influence of infertility treatments, which explain two-thirds of the rise, and increased age of childbearing, which accounts for the other third. After analysing the variations in twinning rate in France over time, the article examines the various contributing factors and focuses on two in particular: voluntary birth control and selection by fecundity. Women who have produced twins less frequently undertake additional pregnancies than women who have had a single birth. The consequences of a twin pregnancy on the probability of additional childbearing are measured by analysing the histories of almost one million French women recorded in successive family surveys. Lastly, the article examines the twinning peak recorded in France during the First World War and just afterwards, in 1919. This peak can be attributed to an effect of selection of the most fecund couples, who also have a higher propensity to produce twins.
Exploring the explanatory: an application to event history data
Bry Xavier, Antoine Philippe
This article presents an empirical plugging of factor analysis and generalized linear regression (logistic regression, Cox models, ...). We show that this combination can facilitate the exploration of complex data such as that on event histories (time-varying, censored) for modelling purposes. By combining a regression method with a new type of factor analysis - Thematic Components Analysis - we show how an explanatory conceptual model for the data can be included from the start of the exploratory phase. This method is then applied to an analysis of the divorce behaviour of men in Dakar, and used to give a simple illustration of each methodological point discussed.
Aspects of Gender Bias Against Female Children in Asia
Regional Patterns of Sex Bias and Excess Female Child Mortality in India
Arokiasamy Perianayagam
Using data from the National Family Health Survey of India (1992-93), this analysis documents evidence about the regional pattern of discrimination in the provision of child health care for female children in India. This discrimination is a contributing factor to the 60-65% excess female child mortality occurring in the states of the northern and north-central regions of India. Sex bias in child mortality follows a regional pattern, clearly illustrated by the sex-specific rank of children in families. In the northern and north-central regions, female child mortality compared with boys of respective rank is about one-third higher for the first girl child and even greater for girls of higher rank. In the southern and western regions, evidence of neglect of female children in health care provision and corresponding levels of excess female child mortality is very marginal. Set against the cultural constraints of a patriarchal society, developmental factors tend to reduce gender differences in health care and child mortality, though the opposite might also be the case, with gender inequalities tending to hold back development.
