Books or bullion? Printing, mining and financial integration in Central Europe from the 1460s

David Chilosi and Oliver Volckart

Economic History Working Papers from London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History

Abstract: This paper examines the role of the advent of printing and the mining boom in explaining financial integration in Central Europe from the 1460s. It finds that changes in liquidity were not a major determinant of financial integration, but the mining boom fostered financial links between the mining districts and the rest of the region. Printing promoted financial integration mainly because it triggered a fall in the costs of transmitting information rather than because it facilitated human capital formation or institutional change. The financial significance of the advent of printing was comparable to that of the mining boom.

JEL-codes: J01 N0 R14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 40 pages
Date: 2010-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:wpaper:28986

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