Banks and Development: Jewish Communities in the Italian Renaissance and Current Economic Performance
研究了意大利文艺复兴时期天主教教义变化导致犹太社区催生现代银行，这种银行发展水平在意大利城市间持续至今，并显著影响当前人均收入和生产率。
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. \n \n