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

Mara Squicciarini

No 7768, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

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
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-evo, nep-gro and nep-lma
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Devotion and Development: Religiosity, Education, and Economic Progress in 19th-Century France (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7768

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