Working Paper: NBER ID: w14107
Authors: Dan Bogart; Gary Richardson
Abstract: Between 1660 and 1830, Parliament passed thousands of acts restructuring rights to real and equitable estates. These estate acts enabled individuals and families to sell, mortgage, lease, exchange, and improve land previously bound by inheritance rules and other legal legacies. The loosening of these legal constraints facilitated the reallocation of land and resources towards higher-value uses. Data reveals correlations between estate acts, urbanization, and economic development during the decades surrounding the Industrial Revolution.
Keywords: property rights; estate acts; economic development; urbanization; transaction costs
JEL Codes: D02; D61; D63; D86; K0; K11; N0; N43; N93; O12; P48; R12; R14
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| estate acts (K25) | reduced transaction costs (D23) |
| reduced transaction costs (D23) | shift of resources to higher-value uses (O49) |
| estate acts (K25) | increased urbanization (R11) |
| increased urbanization (R11) | economic modernization (O14) |
| estate acts (K25) | economic modernization (O14) |