The Academic Market And The Rise Of Universities In Medieval And Early Modern Europe (1000-1800)

David de la Croix, Frédéric Docquier, Alice Fabre and Robert Stelter

No 2019019, LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES from Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)

Abstract: Medieval universities are one of the most original creations of Western civilization. Students were educated by a plurality of masters, and scholars came from all parts of Europe. In this paper, we build an original database of thousands of scholars from university sources, and map the academic market in the medieval and early modern periods. Using a random utility model, we show that scholars tend to agglomerate in the best universities, and that this phenomenon is more pronounced within the upper tail of the talent distribution (positive sorting). The quality of scholars is measured by their publications. Agglomeration and sorting patterns testify to a functioning academic market, made possible by political fragmentation and the use of a common language (Latin). Using counterfactual simulations, we show that market forces shaped the geographic distribution of upper-tail human capital across Europe, and contributed to bolstering European universities at the dawn of the Humanistic and Scientific Revolutions.

Keywords: Upper-Tail Human Capital; Universities; Discrete choice model; Scholars; Publications; Agglomeration. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I25 N33 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-eur, nep-geo, nep-his and nep-upt
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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https://sites.uclouvain.be/econ/DP/IRES/2019019.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The Academic Market and The Rise of Universities in Medieval and Early Modern Europe (1000–1800) (2024)
Working Paper: The Academic Market and The Rise of Universities in Medieval and Early Modern Europe (1000–1800) (2024)
Working Paper: The Academic Market and The Rise of Universities in Medieval and Early Modern Europe (1000–1800) (2024)
Working Paper: The Academic Market and the Rise of Universities in Medieval and Early Modern Europe (1000-1800) (2022)
Working Paper: The Academic Market and the Rise of Universities in Medieval and Early Modern Europe (1000-1800) (2022)
Working Paper: The Academic Market and the Rise of Universities in Medieval and Early Modern Europe (1000-1800) (2022)
Working Paper: The Academic Market and the Rise of Universities in Medieval and Early Modern Europe (1000-1800) (2022)
Working Paper: The Academic Market and the Rise of Universities in Medieval and Early Modern Europe (1000-1800) (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ctl:louvir:2019019

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