Assimilate for God: The Impact of Religious Divisions on Danish American Communities

Jeanet Sinding Bentzen, Nina Boberg-Fazli´c, Paul Sharp, Christian Volmar Skovsgaard and Christian Vedel
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Jeanet Sinding Bentzen: University of Copenhagen, CAGE, CEPR
Nina Boberg-Fazli´c: TU Dortmund University, CEPR
Christian Volmar Skovsgaard: University of Southern Denmark

CAGE Online Working Paper Series from Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE)

Abstract: The cultural assimilation of immigrants into the host society is often equated with prospects for economic success, with religion seen as a potential barrier. We investigate the role of ethnic enclaves and churches for the assimilation of Danish Americans using a difference in differences setting. Following the ordination of a divisive religious figure in 1883, this otherwise small and homogeneous group split into rival Lutheran revivalist camps so called Happy and Holy Danes. The former sought the preservation of Danish culture and tradition, while the latter encouraged assimilation. We use data from the US census and Danish American church and newspaper archives, and find that Danish Americans living in a county with a Happy church chose more Danish names for their children. Newspapers read by Holy Danes saw a more rapid Anglicization of the language used. Religious beliefs thus facilitated assimilation. Divergence in behaviour only emerged following the religious division.

Keywords: Assimilation; Danish Americans; enclaves; immigration; religion JEL Classification: F22; J61; N31; N32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-ure
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https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/research/c ... tions/wp703.2024.pdf

Related works:
Working Paper: Assimilate for God: The Impact of Religious Divisions on Danish American Communities (2024)
Working Paper: Assimilate for God: The Impact of Religious Divisions on Danish American Communities (2024)
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