We argue that market forces shaped the geographic distribution of upper-tail human capital across Europe during the Middle Ages, and contributed to bolstering universities at the dawn of the Humanistic and Scientiffc Revolutions. We build a unique database of thousands of scholars from...

Reflect on the escape from a stagnant or Malthusian system. If this transformation is propelled by human capital, it should be spearheaded by individuals possessing elevated human capital. To explore this hypothesis, we investigate the connection between family size and human capital among...

We argue that market forces shaped the geographic distribution of upper-tail human capital across Europe during the Middle Ages, and contributed to bolstering universities at the dawn of the Humanistic and Scientiffc Revolutions. We build a unique database of thousands of scholars from...