Kin Effects on Male Reproductive Success in Five Historical Populations

Kai Willfuehr, University of Oldenburg
Martin Dribe, Lund University
Hilde Bras, Groningen University
Jan Kok, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen
Paul Puschmann, Radboud University Nijmegen
Lisa Dillon, Université de Montréal
Alain Gagnon, Université de Montréal

Men may have many children but are, on average, less likely than women to have at least one child. Moreover, men from richer families have more relatives, as there exists an association between social status and reproductive success. The question arises whether kin improve reproductive success by supporting male relatives independent from socioeconomic resources shared in families. While there is a growing literature on how kinship may improve fertility, child and maternal survival, its effect on male reproductive success is unclear and comparative research is lacking. In this paper, we examine the impact of kinship on male fertility, male adult survival, the probability of men marrying and the probability of remarrying after widowhood in five historical populations from Sweden (SEDD, 1650-1920), Germany (KH, 1720-1874), the Netherlands (HSN, 1812-1920), Belgium (COR, 1846-1912), and Canada (PRDH, 1621-1849). We examine the influence of kinship composition both within the natal as well as within the (future) in-law family. We pay particular attention to the socioeconomic background of the families, sibling composition, and regional inheritance arrangements, as rivalry between brothers is assumed to be influenced by the expected share of inheritance. Statistical analyses for estimation the effect of male and offspring survival rely on proportional hazard models, the effect on the number of offspring on Poisson regression, and the effect on the probability of and timing to first marriage and remarriage relies on parametric Cure models. We find that many kinship effects were population-specific, and further that the majority of those might be due to non-behavioral correlations (for example, socioeconomic status). Nonetheless, there is some evidence for behavioral-related effects. For instance, maternal presence had an impact on the timing and the probability of first marriage in all populations. The findings of this comparative analysis are interesting for evolutionary anthropology and the social sciences more broadly.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 105. Kinship Dynamics and Effects: Historical Insights