Technology of Cultural Transmission I: The Printing Press

David Hugh-Jones and Mich Tvede
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Mich Tvede: School of Economics, University of East Anglia, Norwich

No 2022-01, University of East Anglia School of Economics Working Paper Series from School of Economics, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.

Abstract: Existing theories of the effects of the printing press treat it as speeding up the transmission of technical knowledge. This cannot explain why a large proportion of both manuscripts and early printed books was religious. We argue that books transmit prudential and moral rules as well as technical information. These culturally transmitted rules provide a foundation for economic rationality, and solve problems of trust in large markets. In Europe, cheaper book production stimulated not only scientific progress, but also new forms of religion, which used book reading to inculcate rules appropriate to the emerging modern economy. We model the effect of the printing press on economic growth. Initially religious works dominate, but as the stock of technical knowledge grows, the proportion of technical works increases.

Date: 2022-04-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cul, nep-evo, nep-gro and nep-his
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