Standardized Latin and Medieval Economic Growth

Ulrich Blum () and Leonard Dudley

Cahiers de recherche from Universite de Montreal, Departement de sciences economiques

Abstract: Traditional explanations for Western Europe's demographic growth in the High Middle Ages are unable to explain the rise in per-capita income that accompanied observed population changes. Here, we examine the hypothesis that an innovation in information technology changed the optimal structure of contracts and raised the productivity of human capital. We present historical evidence for this thesis, offer a theoretical explanation based on transaction costs, and test the theory's predictions with data on urban demographic growth. We find that the information-technology hypothesis significantly increases the capacity of the neoclassical growth model to explain European economic expansion between 1000 and 1300.

Keywords: information technology; economic growth; standardization; Euro; transaction costs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 34 pages
Date: 2003
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev and nep-his
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Journal Article: Standardised Latin and medieval economic growth (2003)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mtl:montde:2003-17

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