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

Sascha Becker and Ludger Woessmann

The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) from University of Warwick, Department of Economics

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. Key words: Religion ; secularization ; Prussian economic history JEL classification: Z12 ; N33

Date: 2013
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his
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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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