Privatization and patriarchy: How market transitions have shaped inheritance beliefs and son preference in China

This study investigates how work transitions during China's post-1978 market-oriented economic restructuring reshaped gender relations and reinforced patriarchal beliefs—particularly by strengthening patrilineal inheritance and son preference. Drawing on Engels's private property–monogamy thesis, I argue that the privatization of means of production during China's market transition reintroduced inheritance concerns that had receded in the pre-reform era. In a society rooted in patrilineal, patrilocal, and patriarchal traditions, the desire to retain wealth within the patriline has intensified fertility preferences for sons. Using nationally representative longitudinal survey data, I show that private control over means of production significantly increased the likelihood of having a son. Male private business owners tended to have more children to secure a male birth, while farmers who acquired land through decollectivization not only increased their fertility but also resorted to sex-selective abortion. Analysis of the underlying mechanisms showed that private business owners were more likely than other non-farming individuals to endorse the belief that a son was necessary to carry on the family lineage, and to oppose equal inheritance rights for daughters. These findings underscore a critical consequence of China's economic reforms: the resurgence of certain patriarchal norms and gender-unequal practices under private ownership.