We study the role of book content in economic, religious, and institutional development after the introduction of printing, and the role of competition in determining the amount and content of local printing. We focus on (1) business education content and (2) religious ideas during the Protestant Reformation. We construct data on printing output and competition in European cities 1454-1600.We document positive relationships between business education content and city growth, and Protestant content and institutional change. We find competition predicts content. We confirm the relationships between competition, content, and outcomes using printer deaths as a source of exogenous variation.

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Jeremiah Dittmar and Skipper Seabold

31 January 2019     Paper Number CEPDP1600

Download PDF - New media and competition: printing and Europe's transformation after Gutenberg

This CEP discussion paper is published under the centre's Growth programme, Urban programme.

This publication comes under the following theme: Urban inequality: The role and determinants of urban productivity