Printing and Protestants: An Empirical Test of the Role of Printing in the Reformation

2013/04/02 by Jared Rubin · 1 voice · 5 citations
Social Sciences · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Arts and Humanities · #Culture, Economy, and Development Studies #Historical Economic and Social Studies #Reformation and Early Modern Christianity

paper · doi:10.1162/rest_a_00368

openalex publication_date 2013/04/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/15

Abstract

Abstract The causes of the Protestant Reformation have long been debated. This paper seeks to revive and econometrically test the theory that the spread of the Reformation is linked to the spread of the printing press. I test this theory by analyzing data on the spread of the press and the Reformation at the city level. An econometric analysis that instruments for omitted variable bias with a city's distance from Mainz, the birthplace of printing, suggests that cities with at least one printing press by 1500 were at minimum 29 percentage points more likely to be Protestant by 1600.

Citations

• An Economic Analysis of the Protestant Reformation
• Luther and Suleyman*
• Luther and the Girls: Religious Denomination and the Female Education Gap in Nineteenth‐century Prussia*
• Protestants and Catholics: Similar Work Ethic, Different Social Ethic
• An Evaluation of Instrumental Variable Strategies for Estimating the Effects of Catholic Schooling

Cited by

• Public Goods Institutions, Human Capital, and Growth: Evidence from German History
• PROTESTANTISM AND EDUCATION: READING (THE BIBLE) AND OTHER SKILLS
• The economics of missionary expansion: evidence from Africa and implications for development
• Elite Influence? Religion and the Electoral Success of the Nazis
• Reformation [wikipedia]

Discussions

• 🧵 (6/N) "Printing and Protestants: An Empirical Test of the Role of Printing in the Reformation" by @jaredcrubin.com doi.org/10.1162/REST... [bsky, 0 points, 1 comments]