The Time Varying Risk Puzzle Discount rates are not an important driver of financial volatility. I reach this conclusion using a new historical dataset of returns, cashflows and valuations of all major risky asset classes – equity, housing and corporate bonds – across 17 countries from 1870 to today. Variation...

Entrepreneurial Freedom as a driving Institution during the German Industrial Take-off In this paper, I analyze the effect of the abolition of guilds and the introduction of the “Gewerbefreiheit” – entrepreneurial freedom – on economic development during the German industrial take-off. Using the division of the Kingdom of Westphalia and...