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α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
Within the turmoil of the Norman Conquest, did religious institutions affect the economic outcomes of their land? Exploiting historical data about the changes in holdings’ lordship that occurred after the Conquest, we compare the economic performance of estates controlled by different types of lords. Holdings controlled by Benedictine monasteries (vis-à-vis secular lords) experienced a better performance, although, once accounting for the unchanging upper level of the feudal structure, we cannot fully disentangle this effect from the persistence of Benedictine Overlordship. A comparison with Celtic monasteries, with a different organizational structure, suggests a role for the governance structure of Benedictine monasteries.