Legal historians have turned with renewed energy in recent years to the project of fleshing out the myriad rules by which the common law of the free labor employment contract structured social relations in nineteenth-century America. 1 Of course, labor relations have always been prominent in the literature. The German sociological tradition has long taught us to see in the legal protection of p...

viour in Europe: some results from FFS country reports and suggestions for further research. Eur J Population 1999;15:207–40. 44 Rindfuss RR, Bumpass L, St John C. Education and fertility: implications for the roles women occupy. Am Sociol Rev 1980;45:431–47. 45 Aassve A, Mazzuco S, Mencarini L. Childbearing and well-being: a comparative analysis of European welfare regimes. J Eur Soc Policy 20...

Divorce law changes made in the 1970s affected marital formation, dissolution, and bargaining within marriage. By altering the terms of the marital contract these legal changes impacted the incentives for women to enter and remain in the labor force. Whereas earlier work had suggested that the impact of unilateral divorce on female employment depended critically on laws governing property divis...