Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/222096 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
Discussion Paper No. 199
Publisher: 
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München und Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Collaborative Research Center Transregio 190 - Rationality and Competition, München und Berlin
Abstract: 
We revisit Max Weber's hypothesis on the role of Protestantism for economic development. We show that nationalism is crucial to both, the interpretation of Weber's Protestant Ethic and empirical tests thereof. For late 19th century Prussia we reject Weber's suggestion that Protestantism mattered due to an "ascetic compulsion to save". Moreover, we find that income levels, savings, and literacy rates differed between Germans and Poles, not between Protestants and Catholics using pooled OLS and IV regressions as well as IV mediation analysis. We suggest that this result is due to anti-Polish discrimination.
Subjects: 
Max Weber
Protestantism
Nationalism
JEL: 
N13
N33
O16
Z12
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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