Why Did the Netherlands Develop So Early? The Legacy of the Brethren of the Common Life

I. Semih Akcomak; Dinand Webbink; Bas ter Weel

doi:10.1111/ecoj.12193

Why Did the Netherlands Develop So Early? The Legacy of the Brethren of the Common Life

I. Semih Akcomak, Dinand Webbink, Bas ter Weel^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Macro, International & Labour Economics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

16 Citations (Web of Science)

Abstract

This research establishes a link between the Brethren of the Common Life (BCL), a religious community founded by Geert Groote in Deventer in the late fourteenth century, and the early economic development of the Netherlands. The BCL stimulated human capital accumulation. The historical analyses show that the BCL contributed to the high rates of literacy, to the high level of book production and to city growth in the Netherlands. These findings are supported by a set of OLS regressions and further corroborated by 2SLS estimates that use distance from Deventer as an instrument for the presence of the BCL.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	821-860
Number of pages	40
Journal	The Economic Journal
Volume	126
Issue number	593
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/ecoj.12193
Publication status	Published - Jun 2016

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10.1111/ecoj.12193

Cite this

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abstract = "This research establishes a link between the Brethren of the Common Life (BCL), a religious community founded by Geert Groote in Deventer in the late fourteenth century, and the early economic development of the Netherlands. The BCL stimulated human capital accumulation. The historical analyses show that the BCL contributed to the high rates of literacy, to the high level of book production and to city growth in the Netherlands. These findings are supported by a set of OLS regressions and further corroborated by 2SLS estimates that use distance from Deventer as an instrument for the presence of the BCL.",

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AB - This research establishes a link between the Brethren of the Common Life (BCL), a religious community founded by Geert Groote in Deventer in the late fourteenth century, and the early economic development of the Netherlands. The BCL stimulated human capital accumulation. The historical analyses show that the BCL contributed to the high rates of literacy, to the high level of book production and to city growth in the Netherlands. These findings are supported by a set of OLS regressions and further corroborated by 2SLS estimates that use distance from Deventer as an instrument for the presence of the BCL.

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