Devotion and Development: Religiosity, Education, and Economic Progress in 19th-Century France

Mara Squicciarini

No 13877, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: This paper studies when religion can hamper diffusion of knowledge and economic development, and through which mechanism. I examine Catholicism in France during the Second Industrial Revolution (1870–1914). In this period, technology became skill-intensive, leading to the introduction of technical education in primary schools. I find that more religious locations had lower economic development after 1870. Schooling appears to be the key mechanism: more religious areas saw a slower adoption of the technical curriculum and a push for religious education. In turn, religious education was negatively associated with industrial development 10 to 15 years later, when schoolchildren entered the labor market.

Keywords: Human capital; Religiosity; Industrialization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J24 N13 Z12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Working Paper: Devotion and Development: Religiosity, Education, and Economic Progress in 19th-Century France (2019)
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