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Weber Revisited: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Nationalism

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  • Kersting, Felix
  • Wohnsiedler, Iris
  • Wolf, Nikolaus

Abstract

We revisit Max Weber’s hypothesis on the role of Protestantism for economic development. We show that nationalism is crucial to both, the interpretation of Weber’s Protestant Ethic and empirical tests thereof. For late nineteenth-century century Prussia we reject Weber’s suggestion that Protestantism mattered due to an “ascetic compulsion to save.” Moreover, we find that income levels, savings, and literacy rates differed between Germans and Poles, not between Protestants and Catholics, using pooled OLS and IV regressions. We suggest that this result is due to anti-Polish discrimination.

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  • Kersting, Felix & Wohnsiedler, Iris & Wolf, Nikolaus, 2020. "Weber Revisited: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Nationalism," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 80(3), pages 710-745, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:80:y:2020:i:3:p:710-745_3
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    3. Sascha O. BECKER & Francesco CINNIRELLA, 2020. "Prussia Disaggregated: The Demography of its Universe of Localities in 1871," JODE - Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 86(3), pages 259-290, September.
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    5. Timothy W. Guinnane & Jochen Streb, 2021. "The Introduction of Bismarck's Social Security System and its Effects on Marriage and Fertility in Prussia," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 47(3), pages 749-780, September.
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    8. Vladim'ir Hol'y & Tom'av{s} Evan, 2021. "The Role of a Nation's Culture in the Country's Governance: Stochastic Frontier Analysis," Papers 2102.05411, arXiv.org, revised Apr 2021.
    9. Timothy W. Guinnane & Philip Hoffman & Timothy Guinnane, 2022. "Persistence and Historical Evidence: The Example of the Rise of the Nazi Party," CESifo Working Paper Series 10095, CESifo.
    10. Vladimír Holý & Tomáš Evan, 2022. "The role of a nation’s culture in the country’s governance: Stochastic frontier analysis," Central European Journal of Operations Research, Springer;Slovak Society for Operations Research;Hungarian Operational Research Society;Czech Society for Operations Research;Österr. Gesellschaft für Operations Research (ÖGOR);Slovenian Society Informatika - Section for Operational Research;Croatian Operational Research Society, vol. 30(2), pages 507-520, June.
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    13. Kersting, Felix & Wohnsiedler, Iris & Wolf, Nikolaus, 2020. "Weber Revisited: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Nationalism," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 80(3), pages 710-745, September.
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    15. Gutiérrez, José Manuel, 2023. "Confessional intensity: a Spanish example with application to the literacy process," MPRA Paper 118539, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Felix S.F. Schaff, 2023. "The Unequal Spirit of the Protestant Reformation: Particularism and Wealth Distribution in Early Modern Germany," Working Papers 0239, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
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    18. Kukic, Leonard & Arslantas, Yasin, 2022. "Religious change and persistence in Bosnia: Poverty, conversions, and nationalism, 1468-2013," IFCS - Working Papers in Economic History.WH 35286, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Instituto Figuerola.
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    20. Zhao, Qiyi C., 2023. "Rethinking “Distance From”: Lessons from Wittenberg and Mainz," MPRA Paper 118414, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    21. Gutiérrez, José Manuel, 2023. "Census-based comparability of data on literacy processes in Western Europe," MPRA Paper 119319, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N13 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N33 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion

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