Banks and Development: Jewish Communities in the Italian Renaissance and Current Economic Performance

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Pascali, Luigi
• 署名单位: Pompeu Fabra University; University of Warwick; Barcelona School of Economics
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/REST_a_00481
• 发表日期: 2016-03
• 页码: 140-158
• 关键词: Financial intermediation; panel-data; GROWTH; origins; FIRMS; restrictions; COMPETITION; industry; HISTORY; matter

摘要

Are differences in local banking development long lasting? Do they affect economic performance? I answer these questions by relying on a historical development that occurred in Italian cities during the Renaissance. A change in Catholic doctrine led to the development of modern banks in cities hosting Jewish communities. Using Jewish demography in 1500 as an instrument, I provide evidence of extraordinary persistence in the level of banking development across Italian cities and substantial effects of local banks on per capita income. Additional firm-level analyses suggest that banks exert large effects on aggregate productivity by reallocating resources toward more efficient firms.