Adoption, Inheritance, and Wealth Inequality in Pre-industrial Japan and Western Europe
利用日本1637-1872年的村庄普查数据，发现土地所有权不平等程度低且稳定，与西欧高且上升的趋势形成对比，原因在于日本通过收养男性继承人保持土地在家族内，而西欧因收养罕见导致精英土地高度集中。
This paper uses Japanese village censuses, 1637–1872, to measure inequality in landownership. Surprisingly, inequality was low and stable, unlike in Europe, where it was high and increasing. To explain this, I study inter-generational land transmissions. I find that Japanese households without sons adopted male heirs, thereby keeping lands in the family. In contrast, elite English male lines failed 20–30 percent of the time as adoptions were uncommon, leading to a highly unequal redistribution of their lands. Finally, the institutional differences in adoption had roots in fourth-century church policy, and this may partially explain why Europe was more unequal by 1800.