Access to useful knowledge is crucial for fostering modern economic growth. We show, for the first time, that knowledge … accumulated and stored in monasteries was useful for innovation. In 1866, anticlerical legislation in Italy led to the suppression … a significant increase in innovation. The effect is driven by the increase in the number of manuscripts in previously …

causal effect of human capital on income, net of the innovation channel. …

We argue that, for a given level of scientific knowledge, tolerance and diversity are conducive to technological … creativity and innovation. In particular, we show that variations in innovation within Prussia during the second industrial … innovation during the second industrial revolution. Religious tolerance is measured through population's religious diversity …