Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/51723 
Year of Publication: 
2010
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 5402
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
During industrialization, Protestants were more literate than Catholics. This paper investigates whether this fact may be led back to the intrinsic motivation of Protestants to read the bible and whether other education motives were involved as well. We employ a historical data set from Switzerland which allows us to differentiate between different cognitive skills: reading, numeracy, essay writing and Swiss history. We develop an estimation strategy to examine whether the impact of religious denomination was particularly large with respect to reading capabilities. We find support for this hypothesis. However, Protestants' education motives went beyond reading the bible.
Subjects: 
cognitive skills
education
reading capability
religious denomination
Protestant reformation
JEL: 
I20
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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