Jewish Communities and City Growth in Preindustrial Europe

39 Pages Posted: 14 May 2016 Last revised: 28 Mar 2017

See all articles by Noel D. Johnson

Noel D. Johnson

State University of New York (SUNY) - Buffalo; George Mason University - Department of Economics; George Mason University - Mercatus Center

Mark Koyama

George Mason University - Department of Economics; George Mason University - Mercatus Center

Date Written: May 11, 2016

Abstract

We study whether cities with Jewish communities grew faster than cities without Jewish communities in Europe between 1400 and 1850. We match data on city populations from Bairoch (1988) with data on the presence of a Jewish community from the Encyclopedia Judaica. Our difference-in-differences results indicate that cities with Jewish communities grew about 30% faster than comparable cities without Jewish communities between 1400 and 1850. To establish causality, we create time varying instrumental variables which rely only on the spatially extended network of Jewish communities in order to predict Jewish presence in a given city. We also provide evidence that the advantage of cities with Jewish communities stemmed in part from Jewish Emancipation and their ability to exploit increases in market access after 1600.

Suggested Citation

Johnson, Noel D. and Johnson, Noel D. and Koyama, Mark, Jewish Communities and City Growth in Preindustrial Europe (May 11, 2016). GMU Working Paper in Economics No. 16-22, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2778909 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2778909

Noel D. Johnson

State University of New York (SUNY) - Buffalo ( email )

12 Capen Hall
Buffalo, NY 14222
United States

George Mason University - Department of Economics ( email )

4400 University Drive
Fairfax, VA 22030
United States

George Mason University - Mercatus Center

3434 Washington Blvd., 4th Floor
Arlington, VA 22201
United States

Mark Koyama (Contact Author)

George Mason University - Department of Economics ( email )

4400 University Drive
Fairfax, VA 22030
United States

HOME PAGE: http://mason.gmu.edu/~mkoyama2/About.html

George Mason University - Mercatus Center ( email )

3434 Washington Blvd., 4th Floor
Arlington, VA 22201
United States

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