The Effects of the Protestant Reformation on Human Capital

2011 ◽  
pp. 92-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sascha O. Becker ◽  
Ludger Woessmann
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Economic Effects ◽  
Protestant Reformation ◽  
Specific Work ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Using Data

Max Weber's (1904) thesis that the Protestant Reformation was instrumental in facilitating industrial capitalism in Western Europe is generally viewed as the “most famous link between culture and economic development.” Weber suggested that Protestants had a specific work ethic that made them work harder and save more. In recent work, an alternative explanation has been proposed that receives strong empirical support: Protestants had higher human capital, which made them more productive and therefore increased their economic prosperity. This article explores the recent advancements in the economics of religion that assign a leading role to human capital in understanding the economic effects of the Reformation. It first provides a brief sketch of the underlying theory and then presents extensive evidence on the effects of the Reformation on human capital using data from nineteenth-century Prussia. The article also discusses consequences beyond education, covering effects on economic development as well as on the fertility decline. Evidence from outside Prussia, both across and within countries, is also presented.

The Broader Picture

Capital Women ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Jan Luiten
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Marriage Pattern ◽  
Global Level ◽  
Female Agency ◽  
Marriage Age ◽  
Age At Marriage

This chapter introduces the concept of female agency and sets up the framework for the rest of the book. The authors explain how age at marriage can be an indicator of the degree of power a woman has in a relationship, as well as her role in society. This chapter argues that the European Marriage Pattern (free choice of marriage partner) played a fundamental role in the economic development of Western Europe, leading to the Industrial Revolution and a higher standard of living. The authors explore the contemporary situation, presenting correlations between marriage age and composite measures of gender equality, as well as zooming out to the global level to discuss differences in how women have fared in terms of human capital formation, access to the capital market, and participation in the labor market.

Zwingli’s Role in the Reformation of Berne

2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-130
Author(s):  
Gábor Lányi
Keyword(s):  
Protestant Reformation ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Evangelical Movement ◽  
The City

"The goal of this paper is to discuss Zwingli’s role in the Reformation of Bern. Firstly, the earliest period of Berne’s reformation is discussed, including the priority of Luther’s influence on the city. Then those channels are discussed by which Zwingli practised a leading role in the city’s evangelical movement; namely his writings relating to Berne and his extended correspondence. By Zwingli’s correspondence, those persons are introduced who nourished close relationship with the Zurich reformer, especially Berchtold Haller. Finally, Zwingli’s role at the Disputation of Berne and in the consolidation of the Bernese Reformation is examined. Keywords: Protestant Reformation, Ulrich Zwingli, Reformation of Bern, Reformation of Zurich, Berchtold Haller, Johannes Oecolampadius "

scholarly journals The Importance Of Human Capital For The Economic Development Of EU Regions

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 63-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iwona Laskowska ◽  
Barbara Dańska-Borsiak
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Gdp Per Capita ◽  
Spatial Dependencies ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
The Eu

The EU designs its cohesion policy with the primary purpose of reducing disparities in regional development. The success of the policy is largely determined by the identification of factors that contribute to such disparities. One of the key determinants of economic success is human capital. This article examines the relationship between the quality of human capital and economic development of EU’s regions. Using spatial analysis methods, the spatial dependencies between the growth of human capital and GDP per capita are investigated. According to the research results, the highest levels of human capital are typical of the most affluent regions in Western Europe, while its lowest levels are found in the poorest countries that became EU members only recently and in countries in southern Europe, including Greece. The spatial correlation measures confirm that spatial relationships have effect on the regional resources of human capital, showing that regions rich in human capital border on regions that are similar to them in that respect. The results of the spatial growth regression indicate that the amount of human capital in the region has a significant and positive effect on its GDP per capita.

scholarly journals Bottom-up or top-down? The origins of the Industrial Revolution

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1003-1024 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOEL MOKYR
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
Modern Economic Growth ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Modern Economic

AbstractWas technological progress during and after the Industrial Revolution top-down or bottom-up? The technology that created the great inventions was driven by a combination of pathbreaking ideas and the dexterity and skills of trained artisans. While those forms of human capital were quite different, they both came out of small elites of intellectuals and craftsmen, what are rapidly becoming known as “upper-tail human capital.” I analyze the institutions that drove the incentives for both, and show that they came together to produce the Great Enrichment. These incentives were both material and social: between 1500 and 1700, the search for financial security and reputation cooperated in producing a unique institutional environment in which the elites in Western Europe produced the three legged-stool of European modernity: the Reformation, the Scientific Revolution, and the Enlightenment. Once these three movements had succeeded, the foundation for modern economic growth had been laid.

scholarly journals The leading role of human capital in the process of countries’ progressive economic development

2016 ◽  
Vol 157 (3-4(1)) ◽  
pp. 19-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergey Emelyanov ◽  
◽  
Natalia Nekrasova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Leading Role

scholarly journals The Diffusion of Protestantism in Northern Europe: Historical Embeddedness and Complex Contagions in the Adoption of the Reformation

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernd Wurpts ◽  
Katie E. Corcoran ◽  
Steven Pfaff
Keyword(s):  
Network Theory ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Historical Data ◽  
Protestant Reformation ◽  
Weak Ties ◽  
Strong Ties ◽  
Tuning Parameters ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Strength Of Ties ◽  
Northern Cities

In this article we use network theory to explain the adoption of the Protestant Reformation. We use new historical data on the connections between Hansa towns that allow us to conduct the first social network study of the Protestant Reformation. Based on an analysis of cities in central and Western Europe between 1517 and 1530, we find evidence for diffusion through both simple and complex contagion. Our operationalization of network data based on medieval Hansa Diets points to the complex association between tie weights (i.e., the strength of ties) and numbers of ties in network diffusion. Using optimal tuning parameters for simple adoption models, we show that a combination of strong ties and weak ties fostered Protestant adoption in northern cities.

scholarly journals Start-up Nation? Slave Wealth and Entrepreneurship in Civil War Maryland

2017 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 373-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felipe González ◽  
Guillermo Marshall ◽  
Suresh Naidu
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Civil War ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Labor Force ◽  
Suggestive Evidence ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Dun And Bradstreet ◽  
Total Wealth

Slave property rights yielded a source of collateral as well as a coerced labor force. Using data from Dun and Bradstreet linked to the 1860 census and slave schedules in Maryland, we find that slaveowners were more likely to start businesses prior to the uncompensated 1864 emancipation, even conditional on total wealth and human capital, and this advantage disappears after emancipation. We assess a number of potential explanations, and find suggestive evidence that this is due to the superiority of slave wealth as a source of collateral for credit rather than any advantage in production. The collateral dimension of slave property magnifies its importance to historical American economic development.

Transformation of the intellectual capital structure and a growth in the significance of its components – human capital and intellectual property – in today's economy

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 745-758
Author(s):  
S.N. Larin ◽  
E.Yu. Khrustalev ◽  
N.V. Noakk
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Intellectual Capital ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
Intellectual Activity ◽  
Accelerated Growth ◽  
Definition Of

Subject. Currently, as the global economy evolves, its innovative components should demonstrate a tendency of accelerated growth as intellectual capital, information technologies, increasing knowledge and digitization of mushrooming production processes. Nowadays, intellectual capital is one of the economic development drivers. However, the economic community is found to have no generally accepted wording of the concept, thus laying the basis for this article. Objectives. The study sums up the analysis of approaches used by the Russian and foreign economists to determining the economic substance of intellectual capital. We also identify the importance of human capital as its components and specify the definition of the concept. Methods. The article overviews and analyzes proceedings by the most renowned authors, which substantiate how the economic substance of intellectual capital should be unveiled, and suggest its definitions. Results. We specified the definition of intellectual capital concerning the current economic development. We suggest integrating a new component into intellectual capital, such as intellectual property, which includes products of intellectual activity and intangible assets. They can be owned by the entity or other legal entities and individuals, including some employees of the entity. Conclusions and Relevance. The specified definition of intellectual capital will help address issues of sustainable economic development and ensure the competitiveness of the Russian entities nationwide and worldwide, since it directly contributes to intellectual capital and its components.

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