Law, human capital, and the emergence of free city-states in medieval Italy

Marianna Belloc, Francesco Drago and Roberto Galbiati

European Journal of Law and Economics, 2023, vol. 56, issue 2, No 1, 199-223

Abstract: Abstract This paper considers how the foundation of the first universities in Italy affected the emergence of free city-states (the communes) in the period 1000–1300 CE. Exploiting a panel dataset of 121 cities, we show that the time variant distance of the sample cities to their closest university is inversely correlated with the probability of their transition to communal institutions. Our evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that the medieval universities provided the useful juridical knowledge and skills for building legal capacity and developing communal institutions.

Keywords: Institutional change; Education; Human capital accumulation; Communal movement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I20 I23 N33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Working Paper: Law, human capital, and the emergence of free city-states in medieval Italy (2023)
Working Paper: Law, human capital, and the emergence of free city-states in medieval Italy (2023)
Working Paper: Law, Human Capital and the Emergence of Free City-States in Medieval Italy (2017)
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DOI: 10.1007/s10657-023-09779-4

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