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Why Did the Netherlands Develop so Early? The Legacy of the Brethren of the Common Life

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  • Bas ter Weel
  • Semih Akcomak
  • Dinand Webbink

Abstract

In many Dutch cities there are Geert Groote schools. This is no coincidence, because Geert Groote's (1340-1384) ideas form the foundation of modern education in the Netherlands and many other countries. Much less known is that his investments, and those of his followers, have put the Netherlands on the pathway towards the Golden Age. In this study, we describe the mechanism by which the influence of Groote so impressive. Furthermore, we present econometric estimates that indicate a long-lasting legacy. This research provides an explanation for high literacy, economic growth and societal developments in the Netherlands in the period before the Dutch Republic. We establish a link between the Brethren of the Common Life (BCL), a religious community founded by Geert Groote in the city of Deventer in the late fourteenth century, and the early development of the Netherlands. The BCL stimulated human capital accumulation by educating Dutch citizens without inducing animosity from the dominant Roman Catholic Church or other political rulers. Human capital had an impact on the structure of economic development in the period immediately after 1400. The educated workforce put pressure on the Habsburg monarchy leading to economic and religious resentment and eventually to the Revolt in 1572. The analyses show that the BCL contributed to the high rates of literacy in the Netherlands. In addition, there are positive effects of the BCL on book production and on city growth in the fifteenth and sixteenth century. Finally, we find that cities with BCL-roots were more likely to join the Dutch Revolt. These findings are supported by regressions that use distance to Deventer as an instrument for the presence of BCL. The results are robust to a number of alternative explanations. The statistical programme used for the regression analysis and the data used for this research can also be downloaded below (attachment, if necessary rename the file as a .zip).

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  • Bas ter Weel & Semih Akcomak & Dinand Webbink, 2013. "Why Did the Netherlands Develop so Early? The Legacy of the Brethren of the Common Life," CPB Discussion Paper 228, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpb:discus:228
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    Cited by:

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    2. Peter Sandholt Jensen & Markus Lampe & Paul Sharp & Christian Volmar Skovsgaard, 2018. "‘Getting to Denmark’: the Role of Elites for Development," Working Papers 0125, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    3. Skali, Ahmed, 2017. "Moralizing gods and armed conflict," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 184-198.
    4. Becker, Sascha O. & Pfaff, Steven & Rubin, Jared, 2016. "Causes and consequences of the Protestant Reformation," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1-25.
    5. Sharp, Paul & Jensen, Peter & Lampe, Markus & Skovsgaard, Christian, 2018. "‘Getting to Denmark’: the Role of Elites for Development," CEPR Discussion Papers 12679, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Gregg, Matthew T., 2018. "The long-term effects of American Indian boarding schools," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 17-32.
    7. Nina Boberg-Fazlic & Peter Sandholt Jensen & Markus Lampe & Paul Sharp & Christian Volmar Skovsgaard, 2023. "‘Getting to Denmark’: the role of agricultural elites for development," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 525-569, December.
    8. Annalisa Frigo & Èric Roca Fernández, 2022. "Roots of gender equality: the persistent effect of beguinages on attitudes toward women," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 91-148, March.
    9. Luciano Lavecchia, 2015. "A note on social capital, space and growth in Europe," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1017, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    10. Ruth Maria Schüler, 2018. "Education Economics from a Historical Perspective," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 78.
    11. Nico Sonntag, 2023. "Can’t See the Forest for the IVs Re-examining the Cistercian “Pre-reformation Roots of the Protestant Ethic”," Working Papers 2316, Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
    12. Valeriy Chichkanov & Lyubov Belyaevskaya-Plotnick, 2018. "Priority Development Areas in the Context of the Economic Security of Macro-Region," Economy of region, Centre for Economic Security, Institute of Economics of Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, vol. 1(1), pages 227-242.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N33 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N93 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General

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