"Blessed are the Poor": The Weberian Spirit of Capitalism Under Experimental Scrutiny

Andrea Fazio (), Tommaso Reggiani () and Paolo Santori

No 1505, GLO Discussion Paper Series from Global Labor Organization (GLO)

Abstract: This paper empirically tests Max Weber's thesis on how religious narratives, particularly the Protestant Ethic, influence attitudes toward wealth redistribution. Weber suggested that the Protestant Reformation, led to the belief that economic success was a sign of divine favor, legitimizing wealth inequality. Using a variation of the dictator game with "blessed" framing, we measure how participants' redistribution behaviors change when primed with this narrative. Our results show that low-income Protestants exposed to the "blessed" narrative are less likely to redistribute wealth compared to Catholics, supporting Weber's idea that Protestants justify inequality through divine providence. Furthermore, a narrative analysis reveals that Protestants interpret "blessing" as divine election, while Catholics focus more on well-being. These findings suggest that religious narratives significantly shape economic behaviors and preferences for redistribution, providing empirical support for Weber's thesis.

Keywords: dictator game; MaxWeber; pro-social behaviour; redistribution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J14 J15 Z1 Z12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-hap and nep-his
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Working Paper: ‘Blessed are the Poor’ The Weberian Spirit of Capitalism Under Experimental Scrutiny (2024)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:glodps:1505

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