|
Sometimes inheritance customs do not entirely reflect social traditions. Romans valued sons more than daughters, and Thais and [[Shan people|Shan]] showed the reverse pattern, though all practiced equal land inheritance between all children. The [[Shan people]], who live mostly in northern Thailand and northeastern Myanmar, are markedly matrilocal.<ref>{{cite book | title=The Stem Family in Eurasian Perspective: Revisiting House Societies, 17th-20th Centuries | publisher=Peter Lang | author=Fauve-Chamoux, Antoinette and Ochiai, Emiko | year=2009 | pages=470-471 | isbn=9783039117390}}</ref> <ref>{{cite book | title=Anthropological Demography: Toward a New Synthesis | publisher=University of Chicago Press | author=Kertzer, David I. and Fricke, Thomas Earl | year=1997 | pages=62 | isbn=9780226431956}}</ref>
In Han Chinese tradition, the eldest son was of special importance. The law punished more harshly offences by a younger brother against an elder brother than vice versa.<ref>{{cite book | title=Brothers: On His Brothers and Brothers in History | publisher=Simon and Schuster | author=Colt, George Howe | year=2012 | pages=56 | isbn=9781451697667}}</ref> The eldest son received the family headship in cases where the family held together as a single unit, and the largest share in cases of family division, since he also inherited the cult to family ancestors.<ref name="fateandfortune">{{cite book | title=Fate and Fortune in Rural China: Social Organization and Population Behavior in Liaoning 1774-1873 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | author=Lee, James Z. and Campbell, Cameron D. | year=2007 | pages=105 | isbn=9780521039697}}</ref> This is still practiced in Taiwan nowadays,<ref>{{cite conference | url=http://www.wbiworldconpro.com/uploads/bangkok-conference-2013/management/1364451871_422-Yu-Hsu.pdf | title=Revisiting the I ssues Regarding the Inheritance System in the Chinese Family Business | accessdate=6 June 2014 | author=Hsu, Yu - Hsu Sean and Chang, Connie | booktitle=Proceedings of 8th Asian Business Research Conference | year=2013 | month=April | ___location=Bangkok, Thailand, | ISBN=9781922069207}}</ref> though Chinese peasants have practiced partible inheritance since the time of the [[Qin Dynasty|Qin]] and [[Han Dynasty|Han Dynasties]], when the previous system of male primogeniture was abolished.<ref>{{cite book | title=Nested Political Coalitions: Nation, Regime, Program, Cabinet | publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group | author=Cook, Terrence E. | year=2002 | pages=118 | isbn=9780275973957}}</ref> In some cases, the eldest son of the eldest son, rather than the eldest son, was favored.<ref>{{cite book | title=Fenjia: Household Division and Inheritance in Qing and Republican China | publisher=University of Hawaii Press | author=Wakefield, David | year=1998 | pages=156 | isbn=9780824820923}}</ref> Ritual primogeniture was emphasized in the lineage organizations of North China.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book | title=Kinship, Contract, Community, and State: Anthropological Perspectives on China | publisher=Stanford University Press | author=Cohen, Myron L. | year=2005 | pages=165 | isbn=9780804750677}}</ref> During the [[Longshan culture]] period and the period of the three Dynasties ([[Xia dynasty|Xia]], [[Zhou dynasty|Zhou]] and [[Shang dynasty|Shang]]), patrilineal primogeniture predominated.<ref name="Lamberg-Karlovsky 1991">{{cite book | title=Archaeological Thought in America | publisher=Cambridge University Press | author=Lamberg-Karlovsky, C. C. | year=1991 | pages=160 | isbn=9780521406437}}</ref>
Among [[Mongols]] it has been usually stated that the youngest son had a special position because he cared for his parents in their old age. On their death he inherited the parental tent, which was connected with the religious cult in Mongol traditions, though all sons received more or less equal shares of livestock as they married. However, in contrast to this popularly held notion, more rigorous and substantiated anthropological studies of kinship and family in central Asian peoples strongly indicate that in these societies elder sons and their lines of descent had higher status than younger sons and their lines of descent. In central Asia, all members of a lineage were terminologically distinguished by generation and age, with senior superior to junior. The lineage structure of central Asia had three different modes: genealogical distance, or the proximity of individuals to one another on a graph of kinship; generational distance, or the rank of generation in relation to a common ancestor; and birth order, the rank of brothers in relation to each another.<ref>Cuisenier (1975:67)</ref> The paternal descent lines were collaterally ranked according to the birth of their founders, and were thus considered senior and junior to each other. Of the various collateral patrilines, the senior in order of descent from the founding ancestor, the line of eldest sons, was the most noble. In the steppe, no one had his exact equal; everyone found his place in a system of collaterally ranked lines of descent from a common ancestor.<ref>Krader (1963:322, 269)</ref> It was according to this idiom of superiority and inferiority of lineages derived from birth order that legal claims to superior rank were couched.<ref name="Kinship structure and political authority" /> Furthermore, at least among Mongols, the elder son inherited more than the younger son, and this is mandated by law codes such as the [[Yassa]], created by [[Gengis Khan]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Influence of the Great Code "Yasa" on the Mongolian Empire |url=http://www.mypolice.ca/research_and_publications/MongolianLawCodeYasa.htm}}{{dead link|date=June 2014}}</ref>
=== Cross-cultural comparisons ===
The anthropologist [[Ruth Mace]] writes in her contribution to the Open Comment of an study about [[Polyandry]] in Tibet that she found that the practice of [[widow inheritance]] by younger brothers has been observed in many parts of Africa and the [[Asian steppe]], as well as some small zones of South Asia,. This practice wherebyforces younger brothers are forced to marry older women.<ref>{{cite "somewhatjournal against| theirurl=http://case.edu/affil/tibet/tibetanSociety/documents/02.pdf will",| also reduces the reproductive success of these men, thereby diminishing population growth.<ref>title=Why Polyandry Fails: Sources of Instability in Polyandrous Marriages | author=Levine, Nancy E. Levine;and Silk, Joan B. Silk| journal=Current Anthropology, Vol.| year=1997 | month=June | volume=38, No.| issue=3. (Jun., 1997), pp.| pages=375-398. Open Comment http://case.edu/affil/tibet/tibetanSociety/documents/02.pdf}}</ref> On the other hand, [[easternEastern European]] cultures, especiallyon Russia,the haveother beenhand, considered as prime examples of societiesare characterized by early, universal and equal access to marriage and reproduction, due to their systems of equal inheritance of land and movable property by all sons.<ref>{{cite journal | url=http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/pop_1634-2941_2004_num_59_6_18495 | title=Peasant Marriage in Nineteenth-Century Russia Alexandre| author=troitskaia, I.;Blum, A.; VDEEV *Avdeev, Alain BA. LUM| **journal=Population and| Irinayear=2004 T| ROITSKAIAvolume=59 *| http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/pop_1634issue=6 | pages=721-2941_2004_num_59_6_18495764}}</ref> (although researchResearch on pre-industrial [[Russian Karelia]] however, suggests that younger brothers frequently remained unmarried,<ref>Marriage{{cite behaviourweb in pre-industrial Karelian rural parishes Irina Chernyakova| url=http://rjh.ub.rug.nl/ha/article/download/2091/2083+&hl=es&gl=es&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESinL3p1WJWxCLuWlL3nd7A7QLqpvol8B8gzMjkeS7CYjWv4AktVwso94R5VTuVTZjkJMu8Q7sYVj4afPkH_19I6BXHDf53op4rfuyxaT_RK5cYMjj4ceNhahmoRUZi5yE5prqI5&sig=AHIEtbQWFGDrI6Dja3g_iKBQ57v5588PMQ</ref> and| atitle=Marriage highbehaviour proportionin of stempre-familyindustrial householdsKarelian formedrural byparishes parents| andpublisher=Nederlands theirAgronomisch inheritingHistorisch eldestInstituut son,| asdate=2009 well| asaccessdate=6 aJune high2014 age| at first marriage and a high proportion of female-headed households and unmarried females have also been found in some other regionsauthor=Cherniakova,<ref>Serfdom and household structure in Central Russia: Voshchazhnikovo, 1816–1858 TRACY K. DENNISON a1 a1 Downing College, Cambridge, and Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure. http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=198947&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S0268416003004740Irina}}</ref> soand the joint-family household characterized by the equal inheritance of land and moveable property by all sons and patriarchal power relations wasn't universal in Russia, either).
The patrilineal joint-family systems and more or less equal inheritance for all son in India and China meant that there was no difference in marriage and reproduction due to birth order. In the stem-family systems of Northwest Europe however, access to marriage and reproduction wasn't equal for all sons, since only one of them would inherit most or all of the land.<ref>{{cite journal | url=http://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/book/10.1596/1813-9450-2127 | title=Lifeboat Ethic versus Corporate Ethic: Social and Demographic Implications of Stem and Joint Families | author=Gupta, Das Monica | journal=The World Bank | year=1999 | month=May | pages=27 | doi=10.1596/1813-9450-2127}}</ref>
According to [[Das Gupta]]'s hypothesis, the patrilineal joint-family systems of India and China tend to control the size and composition of the sibling set, so the survival and well-being of higher parity (later-born) same-sex children are sharply reduced, especially in the case of girls. However, there would be no sharp differences in marriage and reproduction due to birth order, since inheritance is more or less equal for all sons. On the other hand, in the stem-family systems of Northwest Europe, there are no great efforts to control the size and composition of the sibling set, so the survival and well-being of children aren't influenced to a great degree by sex and parity; however, access to marriage and reproduction wouldn't be equal for all sons, since only one of them would inherit most or all of the land.<ref>Lifeboat Ethic versus Corporate Ethic: Social and Demographic Implications of Stem and Joint Families Author: Monica Das Gupta http://elibrary.worldbank.org/content/workingpaper/10.1596/1813-9450-2127</ref> Indeed, there is overwhelming evidence for both India and China (including her own research) of the fact that the survival and well-being of children are positively influenced by the number of older siblings of the opposite sex and negatively influenced by the number of older siblings of the same sex (see <ref>Why Are Indian Children Shorter Than African Children? Seema Jayachandran Northwestern University Rohini Pande Harvard University July 27, 2013 http://www.hks.harvard.edu/fs/rpande/papers/Indianchildrenheight.pdf</ref><ref>Effects of Birth Order and Sibling Sex Composition on Human Capital Investment in Children in India http://ir.ide.go.jp/dspace/bitstream/2344/1108/1/ARRIDE_Discussion_No.319_makino.pdf</ref><ref>SELECTIVE GENDER DIFFERENCES IN CHILDHOOD NUTRITION AND IMMUNIZATION IN RURAL INDIA: THE ROLE OF SIBLINGS* ROHINI P. PANDE http://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/demogr/v40y2003i3p395-418.html</ref><ref>Low male to female sex ratio of children born in India: national survey of 1'1 million households http://ebookbrowse.com/low-male-to-female-sex-ratio-of-children-born-in-india-national-survey-of-1-1-million-households-2006-pdf-d226239427</ref><ref>Sex Ratio at Birth in India, Its Relation to Birth Order, Sex of Previous Children and Use of Indigenous Medicine Samiksha Manchanda*, Bedangshu Saikia, Neeraj Gupta, Sona Chowdhary, Jacob M. Puliyel Department of Neonatology and Pediatrics, St Stephen Hospital, Delhi, India http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3115933/pdf/pone.0020097.pdf</ref><ref>Factors Affecting Sex-Selective Abortion In India http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10125/3488/NFHSsubjrpt021.pdf?sequence=1</ref><ref>The Link Between Infant Mortality and Child Nutrition in India: Is There any Evidence of Gender Bias? http://users.monash.edu.au/~maitra/JAPE2011MaitraRammohan.pdf</ref><ref>The Puzzle of High Child Malnutrition in South Asia Seema Jayachandran Northwestern University Rohini Pande Harvard University July 2012 http://www.theigc.org/sites/default/files/jayachandran_final_malnutrition_talk.pdf</ref><ref>Missing Girls in India: Infanticide, Feticide and Made-to- Order Pregnancies? Insights from Hospital-Based Sex- Ratio-at-Birth over the Last Century Mohit Sahni1, Neeraj Verma1, D. Narula1, Raji Mathew Varghese1, V. Sreenivas2, Jacob M. Puliyel1* http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0002224</ref><ref>Birth order and children’s health outcomes http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTGENDER/Resources/Sergiy.pdf</ref>
<ref>Inequity in Childhood Immunization in India: A Systematic Review Joseph L Mathew http://www.indianpediatrics.net/mar2012/mar-203-223.htm</ref><ref>Sibling composition and selective gender-based survival bias Rubiana Chamarbagwala http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00148-010-0314-z</ref><ref>Selective Discrimination against Female Children in Rural Punjab, India Monica Das Gupta http://www.commonhealth.in/pdf/36.pdf</ref><ref>Nutrition, health, birth order and seasonality: intrahousehold allocation among children in rural India. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12341857</ref><ref>Siblings in South Asia: Brothers and Sisters in Cultural Context, by Charles W. Nuckolls http://tweisner.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Weisner_19938_Sibling_Similarity_Differences_Cultures_F17.231155226.pdf</ref> for India,<ref>Fewer births, but a boy at all costs: selective female abortion in Asia Gilles Pison http://www.ined.fr/en/publications/pop_soc/bdd/publication/503/</ref><ref>Effects of gender, birth order, and other correlates on childhood mortality in China. Choe MK, Hao H, Wang F. Source East-West Center Program on Population, Honolulu, Hawaii 96848, USA. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7481920</ref><ref>Birth Rates and Fertility in China: How Credible are Recent Data? (Population, 4, 1998) Sun Minglei, I. Attané http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/pop_0032-4663_1999_hos_11_1_18514</ref><ref>Infant abandonment and Adoption in China http://www.keallfoundation.com/downloads/infantabandonmentandadoptioninchinasept98.pdf</ref><ref>Son preference and educational opportunities of children in China— “I wish you were a boy!” Wendy Wang http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12147-005-0012-4</ref><ref>Mortality Consequences of the 1959–1961 Great Leap Forward Famine in China: Debilitation, Selection, and Mortality Crossovers Shige Song http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/92p3c5pf</ref><ref>Has the One-Child Policy Improved Adolescents’ Educational Wellbeing in China? Juhua Yang Population Research and Development Center People’s University of China Haidian District Beijing 100872, P. R. China http://paa2006.princeton.edu/papers/60804</ref><ref>China's One-Child Policy and the Care of Children: An Analysis of Qualitative and Quantitative Data. Social Forces March 1, 2001 | SHORT, SUSAN E.; FENGYING, ZHAI; SIYUAN, XU; MINGLIANG, YANG http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-71885298.html</ref><ref>Siblings, public facilities and education returns in China Lili Kang and Fei Peng http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/38922/3/MPRA_paper_38922.pdf</ref><ref>China’s far below replacement level fertility: A reality or illusion arising from underreporting of births? Guangyu Zhang https://digitalcollections.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/49277/5/01front.pdf</ref> for China). However, it is a well-known fact that definitive celibacy was historically relatively uncommon in India and China, but relatively common in many European societies where inheritance was impartible. However, Campbell and Lee found out that among Han Chinese first sons historically married earlier, had lower rates of definitive celibacy and had more children, especially male children, than their younger brothers, but suffered higher mortality rates. This is a pattern contrary to the expected pattern of a joint family system. They attributed this phenomenon to the fact that eldest sons, who needed to have more children, especially male children, to succeed them as heads, were willing to take more risks and suffer a higher drain of resources to have them.<ref name="books.google">Fate and Fortune in Rural China: Social Organization and Population Behavior … Written By James Z. Lee,Cameron D. Campbell http://books.google.es/books?id=-pybannCO7wC&pg=PR9&lpg=PR9&dq=%22Domestic+hierarchy+and+demographic+privilege%22&source=bl&ots=njg6NXBaJY&sig=PxXJKJov7zfNCwmovHFk2qlLb38&hl=es&sa=X&ei=8OnVUceLD8jD7AbHz4D4Ag&ved=0CFMQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=%22Domestic%20hierarchy%20and%20demographic%20privilege%22&f=false</ref> That the Chinese joint family system had strong inegalitarian traits that made it demographically more akin to a stem family system has been noted by many scholars and, according to [[Emmanuel Todd]] and others, may probably be a reminiscence of the system of patrilineal primogeniture prevalent during the [[Longshan culture]] period and the period of the Three Dynasties (the [[Xia dynasty]] the [[Zhou dynasty]] and the [[Shang dynasty]].<ref>Archaeological Thought in America edited by C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky http://books.google.es/books?id=uc3ZokKnaQYC&pg=PA160&lpg=PA160&dq=%22Three+dynasties%22+%22China%22+%22conical+clan%22&source=bl&ots=W6dN0PZp5N&sig=8A07lLbITcpTnUf42ot2s0HNIwM&hl=es&sa=X&ei=-UWwUqWRHMbR0QXRlYHAAg&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22Three%20dynasties%22%20%22China%22%20%22conical%20clan%22&f=false</ref><ref>China: Ancient Culture, Modern Land edited by Robert E. Murowchick http://books.google.es/books?id=tO42ZlxKf4cC&pg=PA65&lpg=PA65&dq=%22Longshan+people%22+%22male+primogeniture%22&source=bl&ots=1ot2Icb86r&sig=leWF7vg0XOIFQWV6rL_4rGxYn8w&hl=es&sa=X&ei=9HmwUu7zBaH8ygO184HQBw&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22Longshan%20people%22%20%22male%20primogeniture%22&f=false</ref><ref name="ecusd7.org">FĒNGJIÀN http://www.ecusd7.org/ehs/ehsstaff/jparkin/academics/ancient_world_history/Flowering_of_Civilizations/Han-Rome_Comparison/China/Economy-Secondary_Sources/Fengtian-Wikipedia.pdf</ref><ref name="indiana">THE ZHOU DYNASTY (1045-256 B.C.)
I. The Western Zhou (1045-771 B.C.) http://www.indiana.edu/~e232/03-WZhou.pdf</ref><ref>Understanding Early Civilizations: A Comparative Study Written By Bruce G. Trigger http://books.google.es/books?id=ZEX-yZOAG9IC&pg=PA149&lpg=PA149&dq=%22strong+emphasis+was+placed+at+all+levels+of+Shang+society%22&source=bl&ots=x3Uacs9bdZ&sig=ZLMQ86h_PBTRGRNNvqAzJTyteGs&hl=es&sa=X&ei=JH6rUvjqAYLQ7AbtroHYDw&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22strong%20emphasis%20was%20placed%20at%20all%20levels%20of%20Shang%20society%22&f=false</ref><ref>Understanding Early Civilizations: A Comparative Study Written By Bruce G. Trigger http://books.google.es/books?id=ZEX-yZOAG9IC&pg=PA168&lpg=PA168&dq=%22Shang%22+%22elder+brothers%22+%22younger+brothers%22&source=bl&ots=x3Ub3ma8g4&sig=_f05twT2qPaGg7VV6QoXttgzJc8&hl=es&sa=X&ei=RR2sUvq8JZGM7Abt74Aw&ved=0CD0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22Shang%22%20%22elder%20brothers%22%20%22younger%20brothers%22&f=false</ref>)
The survival and well-being of children in India and China is positively influenced by the number of older siblings of the opposite sex and negatively influenced by the number of older siblings of the same sex.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://ir.ide.go.jp/dspace/bitstream/2344/1108/1/ARRIDE_Discussion_No.319_makino.pdf | title=Effects of Birth Order and Sibling Sex Composition on Human Capital Investment in Children in India | publisher=Institute of Developing Economies | accessdate=6 June 2014 | author=Makino, Momoe}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | title=Effects of gender, birth order, and other correlates on childhood mortality in China. | author=Choe MK, Hao H, Wang F. | journal=Soc Biol. | year=1995 | month=Spring-Summer | volume=42 | issue=1-2 | pages=50-64 | PMID=7481920}}</ref> However, definitive celibacy was historically relatively uncommon in India and China, but relatively common in many European societies where inheritance was impartible. The Han Chinese first sons historically married earlier, had lower rates of definitive celibacy and more children (especially males) than their younger brothers. However, they suffered higher mortality rates. This has been attributed to the fact that eldest sons needed to have more children to succeed them as heads and were willing to take more risks and suffer a higher drain of resources to achieve this.<ref name="fateandfortune"/> The Chinese joint family system had strong [[inegalitarian]] traits that made it demographically more akin to a stem family system. According to [[Emmanuel Todd]] and others, it be reminiscent of the system of patrilineal primogeniture prevalent during the [[Longshan culture]] period and the period of the [[Three Kingdoms|Three Dynasties]].<ref name="Lamberg-Karlovsky 1991"/>
An study about the Ju/’hoansi (!Kung), a tribal group who were traditionally foragers, has shown that, in this society, elder brothers increased the fertility of a male. The authors of this study contrasted this finding with those of [[pastoral]] and agricultural societies of East Africa (some of which are cited above in this section), where having elder brothers strongly reduces the fertility of a male, to show that in extremely simple and egalitarian societies having elder brothers may actually be beneficial. However, all other studies about forager societies have shown no correlations at all between birth order and fertility. In Germany, historically, number of elder brothers at birth increased infant survival,<ref>Human sex-ratio manipulation: Historical data from a german parish Eckart Voland http://www.researchgate.net/publication/229105975_Human_sex-ratio_manipulation_Historical_data_from_a_german_parish</ref><ref>Do Fertility Transitions Influence Infant Mortality Declines? Evidence from Early Modern Germany Alan Fernihough, Mark E. McGovern http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/pgda/WorkingPapers/2013/PGDA_WP_105.pdf</ref> and number of older brothers was positively correlated with access to marriage and reproduction due to customs of male ultimogeniture (see the studies about Germany cited above), making Germany the only other society of which there is empirical evidence that having elder brothers historically increased the lifetime fitness of a male.
In Germany, historically, the number of elder brothers at birth increased infant survival, and was positively correlated with access to marriage and reproduction due to customs of male ultimogeniture.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Human sex-ratio manipulation: Historical data from a german parish | author=Voland, Eckart | journal=Journal of Human Evolution | year=1984 | month=Jan | volume=13 | issue=1 | pages=99-107 | doi=10.1016/S0047-2484(84)80080-9}}</ref>
=== Variations by class and context === ▼
▲=== Variations by class and context ===
An strong relationship between fertility and inheritance exists in "Malthusian" contexts of resource scarcity; in contexts where resources are plentiful, the relationship between inheritance and social outcomes can be different. In the northern United States (more exactly the [[Midwest]] and the [[Northeast]]),<ref name="Farm family economy">The farm family economy in the American North, 1775–1875: an exploration of sibling differences John W. Adams and Alice Bee Kasakoff http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract;jsessionid=D7AA94010ED24A21FB1FC95B40568C52.journals?fromPage=online&aid=1829176</ref> an analysis of the outcomes of sons according to their fraternal birth order (the analysis didn't extend to daughters) revealed that being the first son had a positive correlation with wealth and fertility during 1775–1875, as in other Western cultures, but unlike in some European societies where resources were scarce, this had a complex relationship with migration, inheritance and other phenomena, since in the United States resources were plentiful. In the northern United States during 1775–1875, in large families, the first-born son travelled farthest, and he also had the most children. This is what one would expect from his early migration to a new area, and indeed, he married at a younger age; it was cheaper to set up a family in farming closer to the frontier. These differences by fraternal birth order for fertility and distances travelled also hold for wealth: the First, who went farthest during his lifetime, was wealthiest, Middle next, with Last the poorest. Instead of being able to benefit from staying behind and perhaps inheriting the family farm, the Last seems to have been disadvantaged by not being able to move to cheaper land as early in life as his brothers had done before him. In small families, on the other hand, the overall pattern is decidedly more 'Malthusian'. In these families the distribution of wealth was not related to migration. The First had a strong advantage over the other siblings. Although the Last was nearly as likely to have left his birthplace, he had two-thirds the wealth of the First. The Middles, who were most apt to have left their birthplaces, were as poor as the Onlies, who travelled least of all. So even though these families were smaller, there seems to have been less to go around. Scarce resources went to the Firsts, who became the wealthiest as a result. The much greater wealth of the Firsts in small families is consistent with the ideas of Sundstrom and David: Firsts stayed closer to home and became wealthier than the siblings who left. But parents in older areas were not abandoned even if their children did leave farming. Many stayed in the local area even though they worked as artisans or in commerce. These materials show that there was a disadvantage to staying home and caring for aged parents, but, contrary to their hypothesis, this happened in the large farm families close to the frontier, rather than in the older areas, where opportunities outside farming were located (and fertility of these families on those farms closer to the frontier was not reduced as Sundstrom and David predicted). Even so, the Last stayed near home despite the costs to him and without any 'bribe' to do so. The family migration pattern described in the large families seems to be designed to provide old age care since the family did not scatter until the father died. No bribe was required but the last-born truly suffered.<ref name="Farm family economy" />
There is a strong relationship between fertility and inheritance in "Malthusian" contexts of resource scarcity. In contexts where resources are plentiful, the relationship between inheritance and social outcomes can be different. In the [[Midwest]] and Northeast United States during the period from 1775 to 1875, where resources were plentiful, being the first son was positively correlated with wealth and fertility. As in other western cultures, but unlike European societies where resources were scarce, this has a complex relationship with inheritance.<ref name="Farm family economy">{{cite journal | title=The farm family economy in the American North, 1775–1875: an exploration of sibling differences | author=Adams, John W. and Kasakoff, Alice Bee | journal=Continuity and Change | year=1992 | month=Dec | volume=7 | issue=3 | pages=357-375 | doi=10.1017/S0268416000001715}}</ref>
Kathleen A. Gillogly discusses how inheritance practices and seniority of patriline, as well as the importance of inheritance itself, have varied over time among the [[Lisu people|Lisu]], mostly in response to changes in resource availability and poppy cultivation.<ref>Transformations of Lisu Social Structure Under Opium Control and Watershed Conservation in Northern Thailand by Kathleen A. Gillogly https://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10524/1545/gillogly_dissertation.pdf?sequence=1</ref> ▼
▲Kathleen A. Gillogly discusses how inheritanceInheritance practices and seniority of patriline, as well as the importance of inheritance itself, have varied over time among the [[Lisu people|Lisu]] ,. This was mostly in response to changes in resource availability and poppy cultivation.<ref> {{cite journal | url=https://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10524/1545/gillogly_dissertation.pdf?sequence=1 | title=Transformations of Lisu Social Structure Under Opium Control and Watershed Conservation in Northern Thailand by| author=Gillogly, Kathleen A. Gillogly| https://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10524/1545/gillogly_dissertation.pdf?sequencejournal= 1The University of Michigan | year=2006}}</ref>
In some European societies males outreproduced females among the higher class, while females outreproduced males among the lower classes. According to the [[Trivers-Willard]] hypothesis, high status parents should favor sons while low-status parents should favor daughters. The [[Mukogodo]] and the [[Ifaluk]] have provided confirmatory evidence for this theory, but research on the United States has failed to confirm this hypothesis<ref>Sociobiology, Status, and Parental Investment in Sons and Daughters: Testing the Trivers-Willard hypothesis http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/wlsresearch/pilot/P01-R01_info/aging_mind/Aging_AppA7_Freese_Powell_AJS1999.pdf</ref> In the United States, daughters currently inherit on average more than sons.<ref>Gender preference and transfers from parents to children an inter-regional comparison http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02692171.2012.700702#.U1ddo2J_tAk</ref> In past times, however, the eldest son was favored in matters of land inheritance in the United States. During the Colonial Period, the eldest son inherited twice more than the other sons in the northern colonies (these inheritance laws were modelled on [[Mosaic Law]]), and in the southern colonies there was even a rule of male primogeniture.<ref>Inheritance Laws Across Colonies: Causes and Consequences LEE J. ALSTON AND MORTON OWEN SCHAPIRO http://www.colorado.edu/ibs/eb/alston/econ8534/SectionII/Alston_and_Schapiro,_Inheritance_Laws_Across_Colonies.pdf</ref> Those who migrated from the countryside to the small cities in the United States during the nineteenth century tended to be the younger sons within farm households.<ref>“How Ya Gonna Keep ’Em Down on the Farm [When They’ve Seen Schenectady]?: Rural-to-Urban Migration in 19th Century America, 1850-70” Joseph P. Ferrie, Department of Economics and Institute for Policy Research Northwestern University and NBER http://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/~fe2r/papers/urban.pdf</ref> A recent study in northern Ghana, a region where male primogeniture predominates, also found that in rich households sons are favoured over daughters.<ref>Socioeconomic status determines sex-dependent survival of human offspring http://emph.oxfordjournals.org/content/2013/1/37.full</ref> The authors of this sutudy didn't analyse possible effects of fraternal birth order, although they wrote that "A last thing to consider is a potential effect that birth order could have on the observed patterns. It could be expected that the first-born son would be preferred; because he would inherit the wealth and therefore have high reproductive prospects while later born sons would be less favored".
In the United States, daughters currently inherit on average more than sons.<ref>{{cite journal | url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/.U1ddo2J_tAk | title=Gender preference and transfers from parents to children: an inter-regional comparison | author=Wong, Edwin S. | journal=International Review of Applied Economics | year=2013 | volume=27 | issue=1 | pages=61-80 | doi=10.1080/02692171.2012.700702}}</ref> In the past, however, the eldest son was favored in matters of land inheritance. During the Colonial Period, the eldest son inherited twice more than the other sons in the northern colonies (these inheritance laws were modelled on [[Mosaic Law]]), and in the southern colonies there was a rule of male primogeniture.<ref>{{cite journal | url=http://www.colorado.edu/ibs/eb/alston/econ8534/SectionII/Alston_and_Schapiro,_Inheritance_Laws_Across_Colonies.pdf | title=Inheritance Laws Across Colonies: Causes and Consequences | author=Alston, Lee J. and Schapiro, Morton Owen | journal=The Journal of Economic History | year=1984 | month=June | volume=44 | issue=2 | pages=277-287}}</ref>
=== Possible relationship with male sexuality ===
In northern Ghana, a region where male primogeniture predominates, rich households favoured sons over daughters. It is likely that first born sons would have been prefered as they would inherit the wealth and therefore have higher reproductive prospects.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Socioeconomic status determines sex-dependent survival of human offspring | author=van Bodegom, David; Rozing, Maarten P.; May, Linda; Meij, Hans J.; Thomése, Fleur; Zwaan, Bas J. and Westendorp, Rudi G. J. | journal=Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health | year=2013 | volume=2013 | issue=1 | pages=37-45 | doi=10.1093/emph/eot002}}</ref>
The more older brothers a man has, the greater the probability is that he will have a homosexual orientation (the famous [[fraternal birth order effect]]). This is because, with each preceding pregnancy of a boy, a mother increases the release of antigens that feminize the brain of the next boy.<ref>Fraternal Birth Order and the Maternal Immune Hypothesis of Male Homosexuality Ray Blanchard 1 Centre for Addiction and Mental Health—Clarke Site, and Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, 250 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5T 1R8, Canada http://classes.biology.ucsd.edu/bisp194-1.FA09/Blanchard_2001.pdf</ref> According to evolutionary explanations, mothers do this to prevent competition for resources between sons.<ref>Homosexuality, birth order, and evolution: towards a equilibrium reproductive economics of homosexuality; Edward M. Miller University of New Orleans http://scholarworks.uno.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1018&context=econ_wp&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fscholar.google.es%2Fscholar_url%3Fhl%3Des%26q%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fscholarworks.uno.edu%2Fcgi%2Fviewcontent.cgi%253Farticle%253D1018%2526context%253Decon_wp%26sa%3DX%26scisig%3DAAGBfm2ZvDPlWHkBIiS6bSvSR6R-pkFrwg%26oi%3Dscholarr%26ei%3Du1jQUZSOHsjJOa2sgegI%26ved%3D0CC0QgAMoATAA#search=%22http%3A%2F%2Fscholarworks.uno.edu%2Fcgi%2Fviewcontent.cgi%3Farticle%3D1018%26context%3Decon_wp%22</ref> Only having maternal elder brothers increases a male's chance of being homosexual; paternal elder brothers alone have no effect on a male's sexuality. According to Spanish chroniclers, among some Indigenous American peoples mothers used to make the youngest of various brothers dress and behave like a female. In many villages in northern Thailand, when a family had no daughters, the youngest son would sometimes become homosexual, dress and behave like a woman and fulfill some social obligations customarily ascribed to the youngest daughter, like performing ritual dances or remaining home unmarried caring for the parents. These gay youngest sons were called kathoey.<ref>Ladyboys and Good Sons: Contemporary Mediums and Gender Identity in northern Thailand http://escholarship.org/uc/item/23d2b5d8</ref> The custom of making the youngest of various sons homosexual also existed in many other places where mothers had high status, like Madagascar (sarombavy),<ref>Patterns of Sexual Behaviour http://books.google.es/books?id=WgsOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA139&lpg=PA139&dq=%22Sarombavy%22+%22younger+sons%22&source=bl&ots=D5EnyvoVuD&sig=Zb62pd602FH5Lys2cRtEunGqpa0&hl=es&sa=X&ei=z1nQUeHQMceiO-jhgbgC&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22Sarombavy%22%20%22younger%20sons%22&f=false</ref> Tonga (fakafefine),<ref>Birth Order in the Fakafefine options KENNETH J. ZUCKER & RAY BLANCHARD http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00926230390195489#.UdBaHOSIGZ8</ref> Samoa (fa'afāfine),<ref>Male Sexual Orientation in Independent Samoa: Evidence for Fraternal Birth Order and Maternal Fecundity Effects Doug P. VanderLaan, Paul L. Vasey http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-009-9576-5</ref><ref>Birth order in transgendered males from Polynesia: a quantitative study of Samoan fa'afāfine. Poasa KH, Blanchard R, Zucker KJ. Source Department of Psychology and Professional Counseling, Northwest Christian College, Eugene, Oregon. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14660290</ref> or Burma (accault). Although no such custom existed anywhere in the more patriarchal cultures of the West, a positive correlation between number of maternal elder brothers and a male's chance of being homosexual exists among many human groups for whom a historical negative correlation between number of elder brothers and reproductive success is attested, such as [[North Americans]],<ref>Birth Order and the Maternal Immune Hypothesis of Male Homosexuality Ray Blanchard http://classes.biology.ucsd.edu/bisp194-1.FA09/Blanchard_2001.pdf</ref> English,<ref>Lancet. 1962 Jan 13;1(7220):69-71. Birth order and maternal age of homosexuals. SLATER E. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/13913808</ref><ref>Birth order and ratio of brothers to sisters in transsexuals. Green R. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11037086</ref> Welsh,<ref>Parental age and birth order in homosexual patients: a replication of Slater's study. Hare EH, Moran PA. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/427334</ref> Italians,<ref>Evidence for maternally inherited factors favouring male homosexuality and promoting female fecundity Andrea Camperio-Ciani http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1691850/pdf/15539346.pdf</ref> Spanish,<ref>Birth Order and Ratio of Brothers to Sisters in Spanish Transsexuals http://portal.uned.es/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/UNED_MAIN/LAUNIVERSIDAD/UBICACIONES/02/DOCENTE/ANTONIO_GUILLAMON_FERNANDEZ/GOMEZ-GIL%20ET%20AL%202010A.PDF</ref> [[Dutch language|Dutch]],<ref>Birth order and sibling sex ratio in two samples of Dutch gender-dysphoric homosexual males Ray Blanchard Ph.D., Kenneth J. Zucker Ph.D., Petty T. Cohen-Kettenis Ph.D., Louis J. G. Gooren M.D., Ph.D., J. Michael Bailey Ph.D. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02437544</ref> Japanese<ref>Sexual orientation in men and avuncularity in Japan: implications for the kin selection hypothesis. Vasey PL, VanderLaan DP. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21656333</ref> and Han Chinese.<ref>Tsoi, W. F., Kok, L. P., & Long, F. Y. (1977). Male transsexualism in Singapore: A description of 56 cases</ref> Among all these peoples, the more older brothers a man has, the greater the probability is that he will have a homosexual orientation, probably because elder brothers historically reduced the reproductive success of younger brothers.<ref>Interfamily Conflict, Reproductive Success, and the Evolution of Male Homosexuality. By Apostolou, Menelaos Review of General Psychology, Aug 26, 2013 http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=2013-30303-001</ref> However, the contrary pathiarchal custom of a father depriving his elder sons of his patrimony, thereby decreasing their reproductive opportunities, and making his youngest son heir with the intention of delaying his age of retirement also existed among some peoples. It was typical of some [[Tibeto-Burman]] groups like the [[Lushei]]. In Europe it was most common among the [[Sami people|Sami]] and most German-speaking groups.
== Cultural patterns of child-preference ==
Thus in Northwest Europe, especially among German-speaking peoples, choosing a child who wasn't the eldest son as inheritor was most common in systems of impartible inheritance, and this was done to avoid co-residence between parents and the eldest son, which was thought of as undesirable, male primogeniture being mostly rejected outside the tiny group of the landed aristocracy;<ref>Aging in the Past Demography, Society, and Old Age Edited By David I. Kertzer Peter Laslett UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley · Los Angeles · Oxford © 1995 The Regents of the University of California http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft096n99tf&chunk.id=d0e7643&toc.id=d0e7603&brand=ucpress</ref> and even nowadays parents in European countries are more likely to coreside with a later-born child than with a firstborn child.<ref>Konrad, Kai A.; Künemund, Harald; Lommerud, Kjell Erik; Robledo, Julio R. Working Paper Geography of the family http://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/51072/1/341179698.pdf</ref><ref>Widowed Mothers’ Coresidence With Adult Children J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci first published online September 7, 2013 http://psychsocgerontology.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/09/07/geronb.gbt072.full</ref> However, in some societies in Sub-Saharan Africa where male primogeniture was practiced, tensions between parents and their inheriting eldest son were resolved through rituals of avoidance, which were most extreme among the Tallensi (although minor avoidance rituals among other peoples such as the Hausa have been given other explanations, it is likely that the underlying psychological principle is the same). Among East Asian peoples, on the other hand, co-residence between parents and their eldest son was thought of as normal and desirable in systems of impartible inheritance, and in some countries such as Japan, Vietnam and South Korea it is widely practiced even nowadays<ref>Is the Eldest Son Different? The Residential Choice of Siblings in Japan Midori Wakabayashi, Charles Y. Horioka http://www.nber.org/papers/w12655</ref><ref>CONTINUITIES AND CHANGES IN PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIPS AND KINSHIP IN POSTWAR JAPAN: Examining Bilateral Hypotheses by Analyzing the National Family Survey (NFRJ-S01) SHI Liping http://www.law.tohoku.ac.jp/gcoe/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/gemc_02_cate3_4.pdf</ref><ref>Sibling Configuration and Coresidence of Married Couples with an Older Mother in Japan Hiroshi Kojima http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1475-6781.1993.tb00013.x/abstract</ref><ref>Title: Differences in Perceptions of the Relationship between Daughters-in-Law and Mothers-in-Law Author: Miyoko NEOI (Faculty of Education, Oita University) Source: Journal of Home Economics of Japan; ISSN:0913-5227; VOL.44; NO.9; PAGE.713-722; (1993) http://astp.jst.go.jp/modules/search/DocumentDetail/0913-5227_44_9_Differences%2Bin%2BPerceptions%2Bof%2Bthe%2BRelationship%2Bbetween%2BDaughters-in-Law%2Band%2BMothers-in-Law_N%252FA</ref><ref>Why do First-born Children Live with Parents? — Geography of the Family in Japan — http://paa2008.princeton.edu/papers/80169</ref><ref>The Japanese Family System: Change, Continuity, and Regionality over the Twentieth century Akihiko Kato http://www.demogr.mpg.de/papers/working/wp-2013-004.pdf</ref><ref>Coresidence of young adults with their parents in Japan: do sib size and birth order matter? Author: Kojima H – See more at: http://www.popline.org/node/359886#sthash.ePZLlgfQ.dpuf http://www.popline.org/node/359886</ref><ref>Coresidence with Parents and a Wife's Decision to Work in Japan Akiko S. Oishi Takashi Oshio http://www.ipss.go.jp/webj-ad/webjournal.files/socialsecurity/2006/jun/oishi&oshio.pdf</ref><ref>Intergenerational Transfers and Old- Age Security in Korea Hisam Kim http://www.nber.org/chapters/c8163.pdf</ref>
<ref name="casgroup.fiu.edu">Wealth Constraints and Self-Employment: Evidence from Birth Order Jing Chen Florida International University http://casgroup.fiu.edu/pages/docs/2249/1275227794_08-08.pdf</ref>
<ref name="paa2009.princeton.edu">Family Contributions to Elder Support in Korea: Incentive, repayment, need, and tradition http://paa2009.princeton.edu/papers/91840</ref><ref>The Extended Family in Contemporary Korea: Changing Patterns of Co-residence Sug-In Kweon http://www.koreasociety.org/doc_view/354-the-extended-family-in-contemporary-korea</ref><ref>Culture, Ritual and Revolution in Vietnam Written By Shaun Kingsley Malarney http://books.google.es/books?id=kwdh3n6cdokC&pg=PA17&dq=%22The+eldest+son+almost+universally+remains+in+the+father's+house%22&hl=es&sa=X&ei=oF6nUqb-CpOO7Qagn4DYBA&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22The%20eldest%20son%20almost%20universally%20remains%20in%20the%20father's%20house%22&f=false</ref><ref>Khuat Thu Hong, "Stem Family in Vietnam", in "The Stem Family in Eurasian Perspective Revisiting House Societies, 17th-20th centuries", written by Antoinette Fauve Chamoux and Emiko Ochiai http://books.google.es/books?id=kcJkkBG8FygC&pg=PA431&lpg=PA431&dq=%22Stem+family%22+%22Vietnam%22&source=bl&ots=BMkefqPE9s&sig=KKEWUTCCP7oqKiie02WgYBRxte4&hl=es&sa=X&ei=jo5bUY2wIKuy7Aaz-4CoAQ&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22Stem%20family%22%20%22Vietnam%22&f=false</ref><ref>Vietnam's Children in a Changing World Written By Rachel Burr http://books.google.es/books?id=UdM23XHKlSAC&pg=PA30&lpg=PA30&dq=%22Vietnam%22+%22parents%22+%22live%22+%22eldest+son%22&source=bl&ots=YmYRoWGILf&sig=EeHY45u5FUh1w2WKYHycZcrI3OQ&hl=es&sa=X&ei=uqTMUrmOH-rV0QXM24DgDg&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22Vietnam%22%20%22parents%22%20%22live%22%20%22eldest%20son%22&f=false</ref><ref>The Vietnamese Family in Change: The Case of the Red River Delta Written By Văn Bích Phạm http://books.google.es/books?id=qyLEoLfmOZ4C&pg=PA222&lpg=PA222&dq=%22Vietnamese%22+%22family%22+%22eldest+son%22&source=bl&ots=CZCYFc5IIY&sig=PT-0pJEhRqNEbsr9_27m2IMqhH0&hl=es&sa=X&ei=RqXMUtSpNqaz0QXQyIDoBg&ved=0CI0BEOgBMA0#v=onepage&q=%22Vietnamese%22%20%22family%22%20%22eldest%20son%22&f=false</ref><ref>Work without name : changing patterns of children's work in a Northern Vietnamese village Author Nguyen Van Chinh http://dare.uva.nl/document/84484</ref> In the specific case of Japan, although the positive effect of being an edest son on coresidence with parents had declined somewhat during the last decades, after 1998 it has increased again in response to the economic crisis.<ref>EXPLAINING TRENDS IN CORESIDENCE OF NEWLY MARRIED COUPLES WITH PARENTS IN JAPAN Rikiya Matsukura, Robert D. Retherford & Naohiro Ogawa Published online: 04 Oct 2011. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/17441730.2011.608981</ref> The coresidence between parents and their eldest son has increased the mean age of marriage of eldest sons, as they now face difficulties finding a wife willing to live with her in-laws,<ref>Trends in Assortative Mating by Sibship Position in Japan September 23, 2004 Chia-ying Chen Miho Iwasawa http://paa2005.princeton.edu/papers/51246</ref><ref>Leaving the Parental Household in Contemporary Japan Toru SUZUKI http://www.ipss.go.jp/publication/e/R_s_p/No.10_P23.pdf</ref><ref>http://www.rchss.sinica.edu.tw/NewWeb/files/archive/429_1feb20aa.pdf</ref><ref>Late Marriage and Less Marriage in Japan Robert D. Retherford1, Naohiro Ogawa2, Rikiya Matsukura http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2001.00065.x/abstract;jsessionid=D7D372E7DE89FCEA814225172D76367C.f01t02?systemMessage=Wiley+Online+Library+will+be+disrupted+on+7+December+from+10%3A00-15%3A00+BST+%2805%3A00-10%3A00+EDT%29+for+essential+maintenance&userIsAuthenticated=false&deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=</ref> in contrast to what happened in past times, when their marriage and reproduction was facilitated by their status as heirs.<ref name="ReferenceB">Landholdings and the family life cycle in traditional Japan MASAO TAKAGI http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=35803</ref><ref name="wako.ac.jp">The Discovery of “Childhood” in Tokugawa Japan OHTA Motoko 太田素子 http://www.wako.ac.jp/human/kiyo/file/2011-0625-1138.pdf</ref><ref name="fl.reitaku-u.ac.jp">LEAVING HOME IN A STEM FAMILY SYSTEM: Departures of Heirs and Non-Heirs in Pre-lndustrial Japan SATOMI KUROSU http://www.fl.reitaku-u.ac.jp/~skurosu/MeMyself/Papers/Kurosu1996.pdf</ref><ref name="shinku.nichibun.ac.jp">Leaving Home in a Stem Family System: Patterns of Children's Migration in the Late-Nineteenth Century South Sama Satomi Kurosu http://shinku.nichibun.ac.jp/jpub/pdf/jr/IJ0701.pdf</ref><ref name="oslo2000.uio.no">Economic and Household Factors of First Marriage in Early Modern Japan: Evidence from Two Northeastern Villages, 1716–1870 http://www.oslo2000.uio.no/program/papers/s8/s8-tsuya-kuroso.pdf</ref><ref>Short tailors and sickly Buddhist priests: birth order and household effects on class and health in Japan, 1893–1943 Gail Honda http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=1830284</ref><ref>Adoption and Samurai Mobility in Tokugawa Japan Ray A. Moore http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=6975844</ref> The same has happened in some areas of southern France with a similar family system.<ref>The Bachelors' Ball: The Crisis of Peasant Society in Bearn http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Bachelors-Ball-Peasant-Society/dp/0226067491</ref> In Japan, the higher demands placed on eldest male children make them perceive the parenting style as more rejecting in comparison to other children, especially daughters, who are educated to be feminine and gentle,<ref>Effects of gender difference and birth order on perceived parenting styles, measured by the EMBU scale, in Japanese two-sibling subjects http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1440-1819.2000.00640.x/pdf</ref> and make them more prone to mental illnesses.<ref>Japanese Schizophrenics and the Family Ikuko Miyabayashi http://lib.med.tottori-u.ac.jp/yam/bef_41/yam41-3/41_099-103.pdf</ref> In Japan, Korea and Vietnam, as well as in some of those European regions where male primogeniture was practiced (such as Catalonia), parents didn't transfer their property to the inheriting son at the point of his marriage as among [[Germans]]; instead, the first son remained under his father's authority even after he had married and had had children, and the father remained the nominal head of the family until his death, relinquishing his actual authority slowly and gradually. Osamu Saito describes the Japanese stem family as follows:
"1) Under the i.e. system, one son remain in the parents' household, but other have to leave (what Nakane calls 'one-son succession' rule). The i.e. system's well-defined boundary runs between the son-heir and other siblings, as is suggested in the proverb: 'The sibling is the beginning in the stranger.'
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