The Role of Human Capital and Innovation in Prussian Economic Development

39 Pages Posted: 18 Sep 2013

See all articles by Francesco Cinnirella

Francesco Cinnirella

University of Bergamo; University of Southern Denmark - Department of Business and Economics; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute) - Ifo Institute; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); CAGE

Jochen Streb

University of Mannheim

Date Written: September 18, 2013

Abstract

By merging individual data on valuable patents granted in Prussia in the late nineteenth century with county level information on literacy and income tax revenues we show that increases in the stock of human capital not only improved workers’ productivity but also accelerated innovative activities which, in turn, evoked an additional rise in the productivity level. Instrumenting the stock of literate people with information on the number of blind and deaf-mute people we also establish the direct causal effect of human capital on income, net of the innovation channel.

Keywords: human capital, growth, literacy, innovation, patents, Prussia

JEL Classification: N130, N330, O110, O310

Suggested Citation

Cinnirella, Francesco and Streb, Jochen, The Role of Human Capital and Innovation in Prussian Economic Development (September 18, 2013). CESifo Working Paper Series No. 4391, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2327473 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2327473

Francesco Cinnirella

University of Bergamo ( email )

Via dei Caniana 2
Bergamo, 24129
Italy

University of Southern Denmark - Department of Business and Economics ( email )

DK-5230 Odense
Denmark

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute) - Ifo Institute ( email )

Poschingerstrasse 5
Munich, 81679
Germany

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

CAGE ( email )

Premier Business Centre
47-49 Park Royal Road
London, NW10 7LQ
United Kingdom

Jochen Streb (Contact Author)

University of Mannheim ( email )

L7, 3-5
Mannheim, 68131
Germany

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