The impact of interventions on a pre-industrial Austrian Alpine population

The purpose of the present study is to gain a better understanding of the role of culture in demographic behaviour. The case study uses demographic data to illustrate cultural factors intervening in the social organisation of an Austrian village in the period 1700-1900. Two sets of potential intervening variables that might explain the effects of culture on demographic behaviour were investigated: population policies through normative regulations and institutional changes due to shifts in government. The paper employs statistical techniques in a structural change setting for evaluating the impact of policies and institutional changes on the demographic development. There is clear evidence that normative interventions concerning the fraction of illegitimate births and the marriage pattern were effective.