Primogeniture

Primogeniture is an inheritance rule which assigns the entire family estate to the first son. In Europe primogeniture emerged in the thirteenth century and kept spreading up to the eighteenth century. It was most common among the feudal nobility and whenever land represented the primary source of wealth. It predominated in England, Scandinavia, and parts of France, Germany, Spain, and Italy. Outside Europe, it was adopted in Japan and the southern American colonies, while partition prevailed in sub-Saharan Africa and Islamic regions. The French revolution abolished primogeniture and during the nineteenth century most European countries followed suit. In the present day equal partition is the norm. A prominent theory explains primogeniture with indivisibility of property caused by increasing returns to scale. The latter can emerge for political, economic, or anthropological reasons.