There is considerable variation both within and across societies in attitudes towards female employment outside of the household. In some societies, the dominant belief is that women should have equal opportunity to work outside the home, while in others women are strongly discouraged from working outside of the domestic sphere. Here the authors use pre-industrial ethnographic data and contemporary observations of gender inequality to test the hypothesis that cultural attitudes regarding the appropriateness of women working outside of the household are rooted in the ancestral adoption of plough cultivation. Contemporary measures of gender inequality assess variation across countries, ethnic groups, and individuals.

This article investigates the sexual division of labor between adults and children. Data analysis suggests that children usually perform tasks appropriate for an adult of the same gender, but boys will often perform women’s tasks while girls generally do not perform men’s tasks. Thus, women tend to benefit more from children’s labor.

This study presents a log linear analysis of the relationship between plow agriculture, female crop tending, and polygyny. The hypothesis was not supported.

Authors Michael Burton and Douglas White present and test an ecological model for the process of agricultural intensification that aims to explain variance in (and the reduction in) female contribution to agriculture. The model synthesizes and expands upon findings put forth by previous studies in order to create a more comprehensive design. Results suggest that the strongest predictors of female contribution to agriculture are the number of dry months, the importance of domesticated animals to subsistence, and the use of the plow in farming. Crop type, although a weaker predictor, is also supported.

This article investigates the adoption of agriculture. The author tests three possible predictors: environmental richness, population density, and division of labor by gender. Minimal support is found for these variables, and the author proposes two alternative explanations, based on diminishing returns in food production and balancing the food portfolio.

This exploratory study seeks to explain cassava production and processing in Africa by considering cultural, agronomic, and environmental data. After examining the descriptive results of the agricultural and social contexts of cassava use, the authors build upon Boserup's population density model (1965) to analyze their own hypothesized model of cassava's importance among the sampled societies.

Data on the distribution of economic activities between the sexes is presented. Tabulations suggest that preindustrial societies have a strong tendency to segregate labor by gender, and that no occupation is exclusively assigned to women.

Tests the theory that division of labor among clothes makers is determined by the role of clothes making in subsistence; the effect of agriculture and trade is considered.

This article tests a myriad of factors that may have contributed to the adoption of monogamy in preindustrial societies. Results indicate that monogamy is not imposed by elites; rather, it is a strategy often chosen by women who can see no advantage to increasing the size or economic productivity of their households with more wives. The authors also assert that monogamy is generally adopted through cultural diffusion. Low pathogen stress, low risk of famine, and low endemic violence are also correlated with monogamy.

Textor encapsulates cross-cultural findings on marital residence relating to cultural, environmental, psychological, and social phenomena.