Scanian Economic Demographic Database

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Introduction

The Scanian Economic Demographic Database (SEDD) consists of an event database, in which all basic source material is registered, and an applied research database. The event database is based on family reconstitutions for nine rural parishes (Ekeby, Frillestad, Halmstad, Hässlunda, Hög, Kågeröd, Kävlinge, Sireköpinge and Stenestad) and one city (Helsingborg) in Scania, the southernmost county of Sweden, in which information in church records on births, deaths and marriages are linked together to form families. The event database is accessible through the Regional Archives in Lund.The research database covers information on the total population in five rural parishes c. 1646 to 2011: Halmstad, Hög, Kågeröd, Kävlinge and Sireköpinge. One of the rural parishes (Kävlinge) was transformed to a small industrial town in the 1880s. It also encompasses one urban city: Landskrona. The description that follows primarily relates to the research database.At its present stage, the research database includes data for 150,000 individuals up to 1968, to which data from central registers are linked for the period up to 2011. Data for the city of Landskrona are presently digitized.

Shortname

SEDD

IDS compatible

Yes

Period

1646 - 2011

Territory

Scania, Sweden

Category

Longitudinal

Contact information

Web Address

http://www.ed.lu.se/databases/sedd

Location

Centre for Economic Demography, Lund university, Sweden

Postal Address

Centre for Economic Demography, P.O. Box 7083, S-220 07 Lund, Sweden

Contact Persons

Martin Dribe

martin.dribe@ekh.lu.se

Citation

Bengtsson, T., M. Dribe, L. Quaranta and P. Svensson (2014). The Scanian Economic Demographic Database. Version 4.0 (Machine-readable database). Lund: Lund University, Centre for Economic Demography.

Questionnaire
Download questionnaire
The questionnaire was submitted on 11 March 2015 by Martin Dribe and Tommy Bengtsson.

Scope / Status

Original goal

Main goal: 1) To improve knowledge of individual behaviour and demographic outcomes during the agrarian society and during the transformation to the modern welfare society, 2) to enhance understanding of contemporary behaviour and health through a full life-course approach 3) to allow an analysis of the role of intergenerational transfers and inheritance on behaviour and 4) to analyse the influence of economic change and development of welfare institutions on individual behaviour. The Scanian Economic Demographic Database (SEDD) consists of an event database, in which all basic source material is registered, and an applied research database. The event database is based on family reconstitutions for nine rural parishes (Ekeby, Frillestad, Halmstad, Hässlunda, Hög, Kågeröd, Kävlinge, Sireköpinge and Stenestad) and one city (Helsingborg) in Scania, the southernmost county of Sweden, in which information in church records on births, deaths and marriages are linked together to form families. The event database is accessible through the Regional Archives in Lund. The research database covers information on the total population in five rural parishes c. 1646 to 2011: Halmstad, Hög, Kågeröd, Kävlinge and Sireköpinge. One of the rural parishes (Kävlinge) was transformed to a small industrial town in the 1880s. It also encompasses one urban city: Landskrona. The description that follows primarily relates to the research database. The database contains a variety of information on individual as well as household/family level and each individual in the database is under observation from birth/in-migration and throughout the life span/until an out-migration occurs. The fact that, and the way in which it also combines economic and demographic data in one data base, have made it unique by Swedish comparisons. The main sources are: Church registers from 1646 (births, deaths, marriages), population registers from 1813/1829 (migration, household composition), poll-tax registers from 1697 (land ownership). Data on male heights from military records after 1830, data from mid-wife reports from 1880, and income from tax authorities from 1903 have been added amongst others.

Current status

5 parishes complete (1685-2010); 1 city under construction; complete registration of Landskrona.

Sample definition

All individuals residing in five rural parishes in the province of Scania, southern Sweden. The sample is selected to represent all variations in economic and social structure on the countryside in Scania. Presently one town is added to the sample.

Geographic area under observation

Realized parts

At its present stage, the research database includes data for 150,000 individuals up to 1968, to which data from central registers are linked for the period up to 2011. Data for the city of Landskrona are presently digitized.

Keywords

demography, life course, church register, population register, history, social science, migration, occupations, income and taxation registers, poll-tax registers, cause of death

Sources

From year	End year	Source	Explanation
1646	1991	Baptisms	Or births: baptism for seventeenth century, birth date from late seventeenth century and onwards.
1646	1991	Marriages from church registers
1646	1991	Burials	Or deaths: burial date up to mid-eighteenth century, death date from mid-eighteenth century and onwards (differences between parishes).
1829	1991	Population registers maintained by a church
1992		Civil birth certificates	From 1992 and onwards.
1992		Civil marriage certificates	From 1992 and onwards.
1992		Civil death certificates	From 1992 and onwards.
1968		Civil population registers	From 1968 onwards.
1697	1945	Poll tax registers
1658	1881	Land registers
1862		Income and taxation registers	From 1862 onwards.

Collection procedure

• Data collection period: 1984-present. • Data collection method: Data entry from original sources. • The transcription was done: By individuals. • The checking of the transcription was done: Semi-manual controls, continuously. • Purpose of the transcription: Research. • Control methods by researcher: Many different controls of consistency. • Data collection staff: At present 6 data entry, 1 programmer/data manager.

Observations

Units of observation

Unit of observation	Explanation	Number
Individuals	Estimate for the complete database, about 150,000 today.	300,000
Married couples
Families
Households
Farms

Are there any related observations that are not included in the database?

a) For all ever married individuals residing in the parishes sometime between 1829 and 1968 information on socio-economic status at birth is registered whether they were born in the parishes or immigrants. This means that their parents’ socio-economic status is registered although many lived outside the parishes. b) All marriages which took place in the parishes are recorded. This implies that the groom or the bride residing in another parish, but marrying in the parishes, is recorded even if the married couple settles down outside the parishes in the sample directly after marriage.

How do the units of observation enter observation?

By birth or in-migration, or present at start of database, e.g. 1646 or 1680.

How do the units of observation leave observation?

By death or out-migration, or at end of database period (presently 1968). After 1968 it is possible to follow individuals even after out-migration from the study area, why leaving observation is death, out-migration from Sweden, or end of database period (presently 2011).

Dates estimated

Migration during the period 1829 to 1895 is set at specific dates in the autumn of each year. This occurs when an individual is registered as migrating in a certain year in a register and is not found in the same location (internal migration), or not at all (external migration) in the register of the following year. The same goes for family migration before 1829.

Are some entry or exit dates unknown?

Yes, before 1829.

Can observations be linked to geographic locations?

Yes

Are the dates and locations of movements within the observation area recorded?

Partly

Are all individuals who lived in the households of sample members recorded?

Partly

Linkage

• Which sources and units of observation have been linked: Births/Baptisms - Y; Marriages -Y; Deaths/Burials -Y; Population registers -Y; Census -N; Nominative lists -N; Poll tax registers -Y; Land registers -Y. • Documentation of linking: Programme, manually - Manually. • What are the rules for linking? - Name, date and place of birth, household contexts. • How each reconstructed person is traceable to the original sources /transcribed data? - No systematic references in the data. • How is linkage represented in the database? - Each individual has a universal identification on number to which the different events are linked.

Variables

Events

Type	Dated	Explanation
Birth	Yes	Baptism for seventeenth century, birth date from late seventeenth century and onwards.
Marriage	Yes
Death	Yes	Burial date up to mid-eighteenth century, death date from mid-eighteenth century and onwards (differences between parishes).
Migration	Yes	Internal migration 1829 and onwards, external migration from 1770s or 1790s and onwards (differences between parishes).
Farm event	Partly	Yearly information on residence and landholding. The date is set to November 1, which is about the average date for the poll tax registration.

Coding / Reference systems

Occupational titles: HISCO, and available in HISCLASS and SOCPO.

Locations (including geo-referenced systems): Location by village and parish. Presently geo-coded locations on farm level is implemented for the 19th century.

Socio-economic status coding through the use of occupation and landholding. After 1903 personal income is also available.

Data representation

SQL server for data management, STATA for statistical analysis

Kinship relations

Recording

Husband, wife and children are recorded in the examination and birth registers.

Depth of information

3-4 generation can be analysed.

Publications

Main or exemplary publications on research based on the database

Bengtsson, T., et al. (2004). Life under Pressure. Mortality and Living Standards in Europe and Asia, 1700-1900. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Bengtsson, T., & Dribe, M. (2006). Deliberate control in a natural fertility population: southern Sweden 1766-1865.Demography, 43, 727-746.
Bengtsson, T., & Dribe, M. (2011). The late emergence of socioeconomic mortality differentials: A micro-level study of adult mortality in Southern Sweden 1815-1968. Explorations in Economic History, 48, 389-400.
Dribe, M. & Lundh, C. (2010). Marriage choices and social reproduction. The interrelationship between partner selection and intergenerational socioeconomic mobility in 19th century Sweden. Demographic Research, 22, 347-382.
Quaranta, L. (2013). Early life effects across the life course: The impact of individually defined exogenous measures of disease exposure on mortality by sex in 19th- and 20th-century Southern Sweden. Social Science & Medicine, 119, 266-273.

European Historical Population Samples Network

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