THE ECONOMIC-DECLINE OF THE CHURCH IN MEDIEVAL ENGLAND

This paper develops a model of reputation building and product quality which is consistent with the observed corruption in the English Churc h in the later Middle Ages and its consequent decline. While this corr uption has been widely viewed by social historians as a moral decay in the fabric of the Church, we argue that it was simply the rational re sponse of a wealth-maximizing firm to a threat to its future existence . (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.