Human Capital Accumulation and the Expansion of Women's Economic Rights

Between 1850 and 1920, most U. S. states enacted laws expanding the rights of married women to own and control their separate property and to own their market earnings. The economic approach to property rights implies that as married women gain economic rights, the incentive to invest in girls' human capital will rise. This prediction is tested by examining the impact of these legal changes on girls' school attendance rates relative to boys'. State-level census data are used to examine the effects of these changes on school attendance among all school-aged children. Integrated Public Use Microdata Series data are used to examine their effect on school attendance among children ages 1519, who are just beyond compulsory schooling ages. Consistent with hypothesized effects, the empirical analysis shows that expanding women's economic rights resulted in higher relative rates of school attendance by girls and had the largest effect on the 15-19 age group.