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Marx vs. Weber: does religion affect politics and the economy?

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  • Basten, Christoph
  • Betz, Frank

Abstract

We investigate the effect of Reformed Protestantism, relative to Catholicism, on preferences for leisure and for redistribution and intervention in the economy. With a Fuzzy Spatial Regression Discontinuity Design, we exploit a historical quasiexperiment in Western Switzerland, where in the 16th century a so far homogeneous region was split and one part assigned to convert to Protestantism. We find that Reformed Protestantism reduces the fraction of citizens voting for more leisure by 13, and that voting for more redistribution and government intervention by respectively 3 and 11 percentage points. These preferences are found to translate into greater income inequality, but we find no robust effect on average income. JEL Classification: Z12, D72, H23, N33

Suggested Citation

  • Basten, Christoph & Betz, Frank, 2011. "Marx vs. Weber: does religion affect politics and the economy?," Working Paper Series 1393, European Central Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20111393
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Elena Sochirca & Francisco José Veiga, 2021. "Key determinants of elite rivalry: theoretical insights and empirical evidence," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(2), pages 277-291, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    culture; Max Weber; political preferences; Protestant work ethic; regression discontinuity design;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • N33 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: Pre-1913

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