Elite Formation and Family Structure in Prewar Japan: Evidence from the Personnel Inquiry Records

Economics > General Economics [Submitted on 26 Apr 2025 (v1), last revised 16 Jun 2026 (this version, v4)] Title:Elite Formation and Family Structure in Prewar Japan: Evidence from the Personnel Inquiry Records View PDF HTML (experimental)Abstract:This paper introduces a newly constructed individual-level dataset of prewar Japanese elites using the ``Who's Who'' directories published in 1903--1939. Covering approximately the top 0.1\% of the population, the dataset contains rich information on social group, education, occupation, and family structure. By reconstructing intergenerational links and family networks, we provide descriptive evidence on elite formation and persistence across geography, social groups, and education during transitions from a feudal system to a modern system. We also use family records to document elite marriage patterns and family-based mobility, showing stable age assortative matching, widening husband--wife age gaps, and associations between marriage-age structure, adoption, and elite persistence. The dataset provides a foundational empirical resource for studying intergenerational and intergroup mobility, and institutional development during Japan's transition to a modern society. Submission history From: Suguru Otani [view email][v1] Sat, 26 Apr 2025 04:03:57 UTC (6,826 KB) [v2] Sat, 12 Jul 2025 15:39:30 UTC (3,781 KB) [v3] Wed, 10 Sep 2025 16:34:19 UTC (3,782 KB) [v4] Tue, 16 Jun 2026 04:10:21 UTC (6,236 KB) Current browse context: econ.GN References & Citations Loading... Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?) CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?) DagsHub (What is DagsHub?) Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?) Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?) ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?) Demos Recommenders and Search Tools Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?) CORE Recommender (What is CORE?) arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs.