The adoption of paper in the Middle East changed literacy practices and improved economic performance, yet current accounts remain unhelpful for understanding why and how it happened. This paper offers a new analysis of the long-term factors behind the adoption of paper in the Middle East, combining insights from economic theory, economic history and evidence from quantitative studies. The paper establishes a long-term trend in the price of writing material and books in the Middle East, and suggests an explanation based on economic factors which led to a decline in the price of inputs in paper production.

中文翻译：

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中东采用纸制，公元700-1300年

中东采用纸张改变了识字习惯并改善了经济表现，但经常账户仍然无助于理解其原因和发生方式。本文结合了经济学理论，经济历史和定量研究的证据，对中东论文采用背后的长期因素进行了新的分析。该文件确立了中东书写材料和书籍价格的长期趋势，并提出了一种基于经济因素的解释，该解释导致了纸张生产投入物价格的下降。