German Socioeconomic Variables

History of Data

The German socioeconomic data were prepared by John Knodel. Data are available for 71 administrative areas, identified in the data, with one record per area. The provinces to which the districts belong are not identified in the area labels; this, combined with the fact that the labels are often rather abbreviated, may make it difficult to determine the region to which the areas belong.

There are 75 variables, covering the period from 1871 to 1933. The first variable on each record is a 16-character alphabetic label, followed by 75 six-digit variables. The terms "proportion" and "percent" are used loosely in the codebook; it appears that all such variables are actually proportions with 3 implied decimals. Missing values are indicated by a code of -99.

Variables include proportions of population dependent on primary, secondary and tertiary industries at several dates, labor force participation of women, migration rates, rates of natural increase, average farm size, literacy, religion, urbanization, and distance from Berlin.

Availability of Data and Documentation

The data and codebook, as well as these notes, are available online.

You can click here for a file list.

The codebook may be viewed online by clicking here.

Key Reference

Knodel, John. Decline of Fertility in Germany, 1871-1939. Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press, 1979.