Religion, Culture, and Economic Performance

Marcus Noland

No WP03-8, Working Paper Series from Peterson Institute for International Economics

Abstract: The hypothesis that the coefficients on variables of religious affiliation are jointly equal to zero can frequently be rejected at conventional levels of statistical significance (i.e., religion matters), but no robust relationship between adherence to major world religions and national economic performance is uncovered, using both cross-national and subnational data. The results with respect to Islam do not support the notion that it is inimical to growth. On the contrary, every statistically significant coefficient on Muslim population shares reported in this paper - in both cross-country and within-country statistical analyses - is positive. If anything, Islam promotes growth.

Keywords: Economic growth; convergence; religion; Islam; India; Malaysia; Ghana (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O40 Z12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003-09
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (28)

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