A Network of Thrones: Kinship and Conflict in Europe, 1495–1918 | Zendy

Seth Benzell | Zendy; Kevin Cooke | Zendy

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A Network of Thrones: Kinship and Conflict in Europe, 1495–1918

Author(s) -

Seth Benzell,

Kevin Cooke

Publication year - 2021

Publication title -

american economic journal applied economics

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 12.996

H-Index - 82

eISSN - 1945-7782

pISSN - 1945-7790

DOI - 10.1257/app.20180521

Subject(s) - kinship , causality (physics) , construct (python library) , genealogy , exploit , monarchy , demography , history , political science , sociology , law , computer security , physics , quantum mechanics , computer science , programming language , politics

We construct a database linking European royal kinship networks, monarchies, and wars to study the effect of family ties on conflict. To establish causality, we exploit decreases in connection caused by apolitical deaths of rulers’ mutual relatives. These deaths are associated with substantial increases in the frequency and duration of war. We provide evidence that these deaths affect conflict only through changing the kinship network. Over our period of interest, the percentage of European monarchs with kinship ties increased threefold. Together, these findings help explain the well-documented decrease in European war frequency. (JEL D74, N33, N34, N43, N44, Z12, Z13)

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