Not the Opium of the People: Income and Secularization in a Panel of Prussian Counties

Sascha Becker and Ludger Woessmann

No 7151, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: The interplay between religion and the economy has occupied social scientists for long. We construct a unique panel of income and Protestant church attendance for six waves of up to 175 Prussian counties spanning 1886-1911. The data reveal a marked decline in church attendance coinciding with increasing income. The cross-section also shows a negative association between income and church attendance. But the association disappears in panel analyses, including first-differenced models of the 1886-1911 change, panel models with county and time fixed effects, and panel Granger-causality tests. The results cast doubt on causal interpretations of the religion-economy nexus in Prussian secularization.

Keywords: Prussian economic history; secularization; religion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N33 Z12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 30 pages
Date: 2013-01
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (59)

Published - published in: American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings, 2013, 103 (3), 539-544

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Related works:
Journal Article: Not the Opium of the People: Income and Secularization in a Panel of Prussian Counties (2013)
Working Paper: Not the Opium of the People: Income and Secularization in a Panel of Prussian Counties (2013)
Working Paper: Not the Opium of the People: Income and Secularization in a Panel of Prussian Counties (2013)
Working Paper: Not the Opium of the People: Income and Secularization in a Panel of Prussian Counties (2013)
Working Paper: Not the Opium of the People: Income and Secularization in a Panel of Prussian Counties (2013)
Working Paper: Not the opium of the people: Income and secularization in a panel of prussian counties (2013)
Working Paper: Not the Opium of the People: Income and Secularization in a Panel of Prussian Counties (2013)
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