Guinnane, T. W., Hoffman, P.
Medieval Anti-Semitism, Weimar Social Capital, and the Rise of the Nazi Party: A Reconsideration
CWPE2271
Abstract: The persistence literature in economics and related disciplines connects recent outcomes to events long ago. This influential literature marks a promising development but has drawn criticism. We discuss two prominent examples that ground the rise of the Nazi Party in distant historical roots. Several econometric, analytical, and historical errors undermine the papers’ contention that deeply rooted culture and social capital fueled the Nazi rise. The broader lesson is that research of this type works best when it incorporates careful econometrics, serious consideration of underlying mechanisms (including formal theory), and, most important, scrupulous attention to history and to the limitations of historical data.
Keywords: Historical persistence, medieval pogroms, social capital, culture, networks, Nazism, voting behavior, anti-Semitism, political parties, religion, empirical economics, data based estimates, econometrics
JEL Codes: C18 D71 D72 D85 D91 L14 N01 N13 N14 Z10 Z12
PDF: https://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/research-files/repec/cam/pdf/cwpe2271.pdf 
Open Access Link: https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.93385
