Does education secularize the Islamic population? The effect of years of schooling on religiosity, voting, and pluralism in Indonesia

Kazuya Masuda, 一八 増田 and Muhammad Yudhistira

No 2019-11, CEI Working Paper Series from Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University

Abstract: The association between schooling and religious beliefs has been widely documented in the social science literature. Evidence of a causal relationship is, however, limited, particularly in developing countries where religion still plays a significant role in politics and legislation. To bridge this gap in the literature, the present study uses the across cohort variations in the exposure to 1978 education reform in Indonesia to examine the impact of completed years of education on individual religiosity in later life. The results suggest that attaining another year of schooling reduces self-reported religiousness by four percentage points. Consistent with this finding, it also changes solitary religious acts by reducing the number of times individuals pray and the likelihood that they eat only halal food. Educational attainment, however, has little effect on participation in social religious activities or attitude toward other faiths, although it does reduce the religious influence on voting behavior. These results suggest that a program promoting educational attainment in Islamic countries may have an important impact on individual’s religiosity and country’s political economy in the long run., Highlight：・Evidence of a causal relationship between individual education and religiosity is limited in developing countries ・We use the 1978 education reform in Indonesia to examine the impact of completed years of education on religiosity in later life ・An additional year of schooling reduces self-reported religiousness and solitary religious acts ・It also reduces the influence of religious factors on voting when they elect the local leaders and the president ・Reform, which promotes the access to education, may have an externality on the political economy in Islamic countries.

Keywords: Religion; Education; Indonesia; Voting behavior; Islam (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I15 I25 I26 J13 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 31 pages
Date: 2020-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-isf and nep-sea
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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https://hermes-ir.lib.hit-u.ac.jp/hermes/ir/re/30943/wp2019-11.pdf

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Journal Article: Does education secularize the Islamic population? The effect of years of schooling on religiosity, voting, and pluralism in Indonesia (2020)
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