Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP9884
Authors: Sascha O. Becker; Markus Nagler; Ludger Woessmann
Abstract: Why did substantial parts of Europe abandon the institutionalized churches around 1900? Empirical studies using modern data mostly contradict the traditional view that education was a leading source of the seismic social phenomenon of secularization. We construct a unique panel dataset of advanced-school enrollment and Protestant church attendance in German cities between 1890 and 1930. Our cross-sectional estimates replicate a positive association. By contrast, in panel models where fixed effects account for time-invariant unobserved heterogeneity, education ? but not income or urbanization ? is negatively related to church attendance. In panel models with lagged explanatory variables, educational expansion precedes reduced church attendance.
Keywords: education; Germany; history; secularization
JEL Codes: I20; N33; Z12
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| changes in educational enrollment (I21) | changes in church attendance (Z12) |
| educational increases (I26) | declines in church attendance (Z12) |
| modernization measures (income, urbanization) (O53) | church attendance (Z12) |
| educational enrollment (I21) | church attendance (Z12) |
| educational expansion (I24) | church attendance (Z12) |