In 2009, Germany adopted a new system of regulating energy networks. The German regulatory commission (Bundesnetzagentur) now imposes price caps (RPI-X) on network charges in order to foster competition between power-supply companies. The price formula needed to calculate these price caps...

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...