Rethinking “Distance From”: Lessons from Wittenberg and Mainz

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: An influential literature in early modern economic history uses “distance from” as an instrumental or a control variable. I show that “distance from Wittenberg” and “distance from Mainz,” two prominent instruments for the adoption of Protestantism and printing technology, have historical and econometric drawbacks that engender misleading conclusions. Historical data challenge the assumption that distance determined access to ideas or technology. Placebo tests and simulations reveal that “distance from” variables frequently produce falsely significant estimates in first stage and OLS regressions. My findings suggest caution in using “distance from” instruments for the adoption of ideas and technologies.

Keywords: distance from; Reformation; printing; religion; Protestantism; idea and technology diffusion; instrumental variable; early modern economic history (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C18 C36 N0 N10 N13 N3 N30 N33 N70 N73 N93 O14 O15 O30 O33 O43 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-06-28
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ecm, nep-gro and nep-his
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:118414

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