student from 01.01.2025 to 01.01.2026
Moscow, Moscow, Russian Federation
UDC 94
UDC 33
CSCSTI 03.00
CSCSTI 06.00
Russian Classification of Professions by Education 46.00.00
Russian Classification of Professions by Education 38.00.00
Russian Library and Bibliographic Classification 63
Russian Library and Bibliographic Classification 65
Russian Trade and Bibliographic Classification 71
Russian Trade and Bibliographic Classification 7
BISAC HIS HISTORY
The article examines the impact of political and economic institutions on the innovative development of states in the context of the historical processes of Western Europe in the 16th–17th centuries. The study is based on an analysis of institutional transformations in the early modern period through the lens of the theory of extractive and inclusive institutions developed by D. Acemoglu and J. Robinson. The paper advances the hypothesis that the printing press functioned as a “multiplier” of socio-economic processes, the effects of which depended on the quality of the institutional environment. A central focus of the article is a comparative historical analysis of the Netherlands and Spain, which, under similar technological conditions in the 16th–17th centuries, demonstrated fundamentally different approaches to the use of printing. The Netherlands viewed printing as a tool that enabled the country to transform from a province subordinate to the Spanish Crown into a powerful state and achieve significant economic growth. In contrast, the Spanish monarchy placed printing at the service of extractive institutions, which led to censorship and stagnation. Using specific historical examples, the paper demonstrates how the Dutch approach to institution-building allowed them to attain economic and international hegemony, commonly referred to as the “Dutch Golden Age.” Based on statistical data on GDP dynamics and book production, it is argued that the synergy between technological innovation and civil liberties in the early modern period laid the foundation for the subsequent development of Western European society.
printing press, Reformation, Dutch Revolt, institutional transformation, early modern period, Western Europe, Spanish monarchy
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