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Devotion and Development: Religiosity, Education, and Economic Progress in 19th-Century France

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  • Mara P. Squicciarini

Abstract

This paper studies when religion can hamper diffusion of knowledge and economic development, and through which mechanism. I examine Catholicism in France during the Second Industrial Revolution (1870–1914). In this period, technology became skill-intensive, leading to the introduction of technical education in primary schools. I find that more religious locations had lower economic development after 1870. Schooling appears to be the key mechanism: more religious areas saw a slower adoption of the technical curriculum and a push for religious education. In turn, religious education was negatively associated with industrial development 10 to 15 years later, when schoolchildren entered the labor market.

Suggested Citation

  • Mara P. Squicciarini, 2019. "Devotion and Development: Religiosity, Education, and Economic Progress in 19th-Century France," CESifo Working Paper Series 7768, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7768
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sascha O. Becker & Ludger Woessmann, 2009. "Was Weber Wrong? A Human Capital Theory of Protestant Economic History," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(2), pages 531-596.
    2. Joseph G. Altonji & Todd E. Elder & Christopher R. Taber, 2005. "Selection on Observed and Unobserved Variables: Assessing the Effectiveness of Catholic Schools," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(1), pages 151-184, February.
    3. Abhijit Banerjee & Esther Duflo & Gilles Postel-Vinay & Timothy M. Watts, 2007. "Long Run Health Impacts of Income Shocks: Wine and Phylloxera in 19th Century France," NBER Working Papers 12895, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Donald W.K. Andrews & James H. Stock, 2005. "Inference with Weak Instruments," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1530, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    5. Guillaume Daudin & Raphaël Franck & Hillel Rapoport, 2016. "The cultural diffusion of the fertility transition: evidence from internal migration in 19 th century France," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-01321952, HAL.
    6. Vincent Bignon & Cecilia Garcia-Peñalosa, 2018. "The Toll of Tariffs: Protectionism, Education and Fertility in Late 19th Century France," Working papers 690, Banque de France.
    7. repec:cai:popine:popu_p1975_30n6_1144 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Abhijit Banerjee & Esther Duflo & Gilles Postel-Vinay & Tim Watts, 2010. "Long-Run Health Impacts of Income Shocks: Wine and Phylloxera in Nineteenth-Century France," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(4), pages 714-728, November.
    9. Jeremiah E. Dittmar, 2011. "Information Technology and Economic Change: The Impact of The Printing Press," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(3), pages 1133-1172.
    10. Conley, T. G., 1999. "GMM estimation with cross sectional dependence," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 1-45, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Vincent Bignon & Cecilia Garcia-Peñalosa, 2018. "The Toll of Tariffs: Protectionism, Education and Fertility in Late 19th Century France," Working papers 690, Banque de France.
    2. Javier Mejia, 2018. "Social Networks and Entrepreneurship. Evidence from a Historical Episode of Industrialization," Working Papers 20180020, New York University Abu Dhabi, Department of Social Science, revised Sep 2018.
    3. Jeanet Sinding Bentzen & Gunes Gokmen, 2023. "The power of religion," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 45-78, March.
    4. Stefano Comino & Alberto Galasso & Clara Graziano, 2020. "Market Power and Patent Strategies: Evidence from Renaissance Venice," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(2), pages 226-269, June.
    5. Tobias Schultheiss & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2024. "Does updating education curricula accelerate technology adoption in the workplace? Evidence from dual vocational education and training curricula in Switzerland," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 191-235, February.
    6. Bentzen, Jeanet Sinding, 2021. "In crisis, we pray: Religiosity and the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 541-583.
    7. Samuel Bazzi & Masyhur Hilmy & Benjamin Marx, 2020. "Islam and the State: Religious Education in the Age of Mass Schooling," Working Papers hal-03389196, HAL.
    8. Samuel Bazzi & Masyhur Hilmy & Benjamin Marx, 2020. "Religion, Education, and the State," NBER Working Papers 27073, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Samuel Bazzi & Masyhur Hilmy & Benjamin Marx, 2020. "Islam and the State: Religious Education in the Age of Mass Schooling∗," Boston University - Department of Economics - The Institute for Economic Development Working Papers Series dp-349, Boston University - Department of Economics.
    10. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/3jngk2o32k9hgasm59p1d3tmli is not listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    human capital; religiosity; industrialization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • N13 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion

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