Lessons from history: How removing barriers to knowledge can spur innovation

At the end of the 19th century in Italy, books and manuscripts were transferred from monasteries to public libraries, making much of the knowledge safeguarded in monastic libraries suddenly available to the public. This column explores the link between this development and innovation. Access to knowledge through public libraries significantly increased innovation: municipalities that received books and manuscripts from monasteries increased their patenting activity by about 48%. This effect was persistent over time, suggesting that disseminating useful, even basic, information has a potential long-term impact on societal development.