Education and Religion

Edward L. Glaeser and Bruce Sacerdote ()

Journal of Human Capital, 2008, vol. 2, issue 2, 188-215

Abstract: In the United States, religious attendance rises sharply with education across individuals, but religious attendance declines sharply with education across denominations. This puzzle is explained if education both increases the returns to social connection and reduces the extent of religious belief, and if beliefs are closely linked to denominations. The positive effect of education on social connection is the result of both treatment and selection: schooling creates social skills and may increase people' s utility from engaging in other social activities such as church attendance. The negative effect of education on religious belief occurs because secular education emphasizes secular beliefs that are at odds with many traditional religious views.

Date: 2008
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (85)

Downloads: (external link)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/590413 (text/html)
Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.

Related works:
Working Paper: Education and Religion (2001)
Working Paper: Education and Religion (2001)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ucp:jhucap:v:2:i:2:y:2008:p:188-215

DOI: 10.1086/590413

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of Human Capital from University of Chicago Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Journals Division ().