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Religion and Economic Growth: Was Weber Right?

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Author Info
BLUM, Ulrich
DUDLEY, Leonard

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Abstract

Evidence of falling wages in Catholic cities and rising wages in Protestant cities between 1500 and 1750, during the spread of literacy in the vernacular, is inconsistent with most theoretical models of economic growth. In The Protestant Ethic, Weber suggested an alternative explanation based on culture. Here, a theoretical model confirms that a small change in the subjective cost of cooperating with strangers can generate a profound transformation in trading networks. In explaining urban growth in early-modern Europe, specifications compatible with human-capital versions of the neoclassical model and endogenous-growth theory are rejected in favor of a “small-world” formulation based on the Weber thesis.

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/1866/346
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Universite de Montreal, Departement de sciences economiques in its series Cahiers de recherche with number 2001-05.

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Length: 38 pages
Date of creation: 2001
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Handle: RePEc:mtl:montde:2001-05

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Related research
Keywords: growth; religion; networks; culture; Euro;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion
O47 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Measurement of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
Z10 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - General

Cited by:
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  1. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2002. "People's Opium? Religion and Economic Attitudes," NBER Working Papers 9237, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Chris Minns, & Mariyan Rizov, 2003. "The spirit of capitalism? Immigration, religion, and self-employment in early 20th century Canada," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp08, IIIS. [Downloadable!]
  3. Joao Ricardo Faria & Miguel A. Leon-Ledesma, 2002. "Habit Formation, Work Ethics, and Technological Progress," Studies in Economics 0210, Department of Economics, University of Kent. [Downloadable!]
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  4. Bednarik, Radek & Filipova, Lenka, 2009. "The role of religion and political regime for human capital and economic development," MPRA Paper 14556, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  5. Sacit Hadi Akdede & Hakan Hotunluoðlu, 2008. "Economic Development and Religiosity: An Investigation of Turkish Cities," Papers of the Annual IUE-SUNY Cortland Conference in Economics, in: Proceedings of the Conference on Emerging Economic Issues in a Globalizing World, pages 261-271 Izmir University of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  6. Zahide Karakitapoğlu Aygün & Mahmut Arslan & Salih Güney, 2008. "Work Values of Turkish and American University Students," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 80(2), pages 205-223, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Tiago Cavalcanti & Stephen Parente & Rui Zhao, 2007. "Religion in macroeconomics: a quantitative analysis of Weber’s thesis," Economic Theory, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 105-123, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Benito Arruñada, 2003. "Specialization and Rent-Seeking in Moral Enforcement: The Case of Confession," Economics Working Papers 653, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Jul 2009. [Downloadable!]
  9. Marco Alfo & Giovanni Trovato & Robert J. Waldmann, 2008. "Testing for country heterogeneity in growth models using a finite mixture approach," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(4), pages 487-514. [Downloadable!]
  10. Do, Quy-Toan & Phung, Tung Duc, 2006. "Superstition, family planning, and human development," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4001, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  11. Joao Ricardo Faria & Miguel León-Ledesma, 2003. "Cultural Heritage and Growth," Studies in Economics 0303, Department of Economics, University of Kent. [Downloadable!]
  12. Renneboog, L.D.R. & Spaenjers, C., 2009. "Where Angels Fear to Trade: The Role of Religion in Household Finance," Discussion Paper 2009-34, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  13. Michele Bagella & Leonardo Becchetti & Stefano Caiazza, 2002. "Cultures, Finance And Growth," Departmental Working Papers 157, Tor Vergata University, CEIS. [Downloadable!]
  14. Roy Thurik & Lorraine Uhlaner & Jan Hutjes, 2002. "Post-Materialism as a Cultural Factor Influencing Entrepreneurial Activity across Nations," Scales Research Reports H200202, EIM Business and Policy Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  15. Marcus Noland, 2003. "Religion, Culture, and Economic Performance," Peterson Institute Working Paper Series WP03-8, Peterson Institute for International Economics. [Downloadable!]
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