Basic Patterns in Annual Variations in Fertility, Nuptiality, Mortality, and Prices in Pre-industrial Europe

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Abstract
Examination of the responses of vital rates to variations in grain prices in nine pre-industrial European countries confirms the existence of the short-term Malthusian preventive and positive checks. The structure and magnitude of the preventive check are strikingly similar in all countries and all periods. On the other hand, the strength of the positive check varies widely and in remarkable accord with measures of economic development. The size of the positive relative to the preventive check diminishes as economic development increases. Among the countries examined, differences in the response of population growth rates to price fluctuations can be attributed primarily to differences in the strength of the positive check.

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