Zusammenfassung Historische Ereignisse spiegeln sich in Preisveränderungen auf Finanzmärkten. Dieses Papier untersucht die deutsche Kriegsgeschichte während des zweiten Weltkriegs anhand der Preisentwicklung der in der Schweiz gehandelten deutschen Staatsanleihen. Die Resultate unserer...

We evaluate explanations for why Germany grew so quickly in the 1950s. The recent literature has emphasized convergence, structural change and institutional shake-up while minimizing the importance of the postwar shock. We show that this shock and its consequences were more important than...

When did Germany become economically integrated? Within the framework of a gravity model, based on a new data set of about 40,000 observations on trade flows within and across the borders of Germany over the period 1885-1933, I explore the geography of trade costs across Central Europe. There...

Following Max Weber, many theories have hypothesized that Protestantism should have favored economic development. With its religious heterogeneity, the Holy Roman Empire presents an ideal testing ground for this hypothesis. Using population figures of 272 cities in the years 1300–1900, I find...