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Nuns and the Effects of Catholic Schools Evidence from Vatican II

Author

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  • Rania Gihleb

Abstract

This paper examines the causal effects of Catholic schooling on educational attainment.Using a novel instrumental-variable approach that exploits an exogenous shockto the Catholic school system, we show that the positive correlation between Catholicschooling and student outcomes is explained by selection bias. Spearheaded by theuniversal call to holiness, the reforms that occurred at the Second Vatican Councilproduced a dramatic exogenous change in the cost/benefit ratio of religious life in theCatholic Church. Using the abrupt decline in the number of Catholic sisters as aninstrument for Catholic schooling, we find no evidence of positive effects on studentoutcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Rania Gihleb, 2015. "Nuns and the Effects of Catholic Schools Evidence from Vatican II," Working Paper 5857, Department of Economics, University of Pittsburgh.
    • Handle: RePEc:pit:wpaper:5857
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    File URL: https://www.econ.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/working_papers/WP16-003_0.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Sascha O. Becker & Jeanet Sinding Bentzen & Chun Chee Kok, 2025. "Gender and Religion: A Survey," Monash Economics Working Papers 2025-18, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    2. Anna Maria Koukal, 2017. "How Vatican II influenced female enfranchisement: A story of rapid cultural change," CREMA Working Paper Series 2017-07, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    3. M. Niaz Asadullah, 2016. "The Effect Of Islamic Secondary School Attendance On Academic Achievement," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 61(04), pages 1-24, September.
    4. Angela K. Dills & Douglas A. Norton, 2022. "Correction to: Sincerely held beliefs: evidence on how religion in the classroom affects private school enrollments," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 192(3), pages 399-399, September.
    5. McKendrick, Andrew & Walker, Ian, 2020. "The Role of Faith and Faith Schooling in Educational, Economic, and Faith Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 13192, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • N3 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy

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