Impartible Inheritance Versus Equal Division: A Comparative Perspective Centered on Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

The effects of several different land tenure systems particularly on insurance and on equity, and some of the non-market mechanisms of land allocation have often been ignored by economists, except perhaps in some attempts to understand the implications of these on wealth distribution of inheritance practices, specifically in primogeniture. Non-market mechanisms play no small part in land allocation across developing countries, and it is important to note that one of the most frequently used methods of this in African countries is inheritance. As such, we have to be aware of how these non-market mechanisms evolve when agricultural commercialization and population growth increases land pressure. This chapter looks into how inheritance practices and rules vary across different cultures and social classes through comparing the situation of Sub-Saharan Africa with the those in Europe's the lower rural classes.