Elite Violence and Elite Numeracy in Europe from 500 to 1900 CE: A Co-Evolution?

71 Pages Posted: 7 Oct 2019

See all articles by Jörg Baten

Jörg Baten

University of Tuebingen - Department of Economics; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Thomas Keywood

University of Tuebingen

Date Written: September 2019

Abstract

We develop a new indicator for elite numeracy in order to investigate trends in European elite numeracy since the 6th century CE and describe its co-evolution with elite violence over this period. During the early medieval period, Western Europe had no advantage over the east, but the development of relative violence levels changed this. After implementing an instrumental variable strategy and a battery of robustness tests, we find a substantial relationship and conclude that violence had a detrimental impact on human capital formation. The drastic increase in human capital since the High Middle Ages was at least partially due to declining violence.

Keywords: Early Modern Period, elite human capital, elite violence, Europe, Great Divergence, middle ages

JEL Classification: N00, N13, N33

Suggested Citation

Baten, Jorg and Keywood, Thomas, Elite Violence and Elite Numeracy in Europe from 500 to 1900 CE: A Co-Evolution? (September 2019). CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP14013, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3464542

Jorg Baten (Contact Author)

University of Tuebingen - Department of Economics ( email )

Mohlstrasse 36
D-72074 Tuebingen, 72074
Germany
+49 7071 2972985 (Phone)
+49 7071 295119 (Fax)

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

Thomas Keywood

University of Tuebingen ( email )

Wilhelmstr. 19
72074 Tuebingen, Baden Wuerttemberg 72074
Germany

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