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Compulsory Schooling Laws and Formation of Beliefs: Education, Religion and Superstition
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Compulsory Schooling Laws and Formation of Beliefs: Education, Religion and Superstition

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  • Naci Mocan
  • Luiza Pogorelova

Abstract

We exploit information on compulsory schooling reforms in 11 European countries, implemented mostly in the 1960s and 70s, to identify the impact of education on religious adherence and religious practices. Using micro data from the European Social Survey, conducted in various years between 2002 and 2013, we find consistently large negative effects of schooling on self-reported religiosity, social religious acts (attending religious services), as well as solitary religious acts (the frequency of praying). We also use data from European Values Survey to apply the same empirical design to analyze the impact of schooling on superstitious beliefs. We find that more education, due to increased mandatory years of schooling, reduces individuals' propensity to believe in the power of lucky charms and the tendency to take into account horoscopes in daily life.

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  • Naci Mocan & Luiza Pogorelova, 2014. "Compulsory Schooling Laws and Formation of Beliefs: Education, Religion and Superstition," NBER Working Papers 20557, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20557
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    Cited by:

    1. Resul Cesur & Naci Mocan, 2018. "Education, religion, and voter preference in a Muslim country," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(1), pages 1-44, January.
    2. Masuda, Kazuya & Yudhistira, Muhammad Halley, 2020. "Does education secularize the Islamic population? The effect of years of schooling on religiosity, voting, and pluralism in Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    3. Hungerman, Daniel & Rinz, Kevin & Weninger, Tim & Yoon, Chungeun, 2018. "Political campaigns and church contributions," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 403-426.
    4. Pedro Albarran Pérez & Marisa Hidalgo Hidalgo & Iñigo Iturbe-Ormaetxe Kortajarene, 2017. "Schooling and adult health: Can education overcome bad early-life conditions?," Working Papers. Serie AD 2017-09, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    5. Pierre-Guillaume Méon & Ilan Tojerow, 2018. "In God We Learn? The Universal Messages of Religions, their Context-Specific Effects, and the role of Minority Status," Working Papers CEB 16-036, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    6. Lant Pritchett & Martina Viarengo, 2015. "The State, Socialisation, and Private Schooling: When Will Governments Support Alternative Producers?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(7), pages 784-807, July.
    7. Mustafa Özer & Jan Fidrmuc & Emmanouil Mentzakis & Özcan Özkan, 2024. "Does Education Affect Religiosity? Causal Evidence from a Conservative Emerging Economy," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 70(1), pages 34-50.
    8. Imam Alam & Shahina Amin & Ken McCormick, 2018. "Income, Education, and Three Dimensions of Religiosity in the USA," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 44(4), pages 501-518, September.
    9. Ralsmark, Hilda, 2017. "Education, norms, and gender equality," Working Papers in Economics 702, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    10. Eiji Yamamura, 2017. "Historical education levels and present-day non-cognitive skills," Journal of Economics and Econometrics, Economics and Econometrics Society, vol. 60(1), pages 28-51.
    11. Pierre-Guillaume Méon & Ilan Tojerow, 2016. "In God We Learn? Religions’ Universal Messages, Context-Specific Effects, and Minority Status," Working Papers CEB 2013/233535, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    12. Adamecz-Völgyi, Anna, 2022. "Oktatási reformok hatása kérdőíves adatokon. Befolyásolják-e a reformok a részvételt, a lemorzsolódást és a válaszadást? [Education reforms as instrumental variables for education using survey data," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(11), pages 1298-1323.
    13. Olga Popova, 2016. "Suffer for the Faith? Parental Religiosity and Children’s Health," Working Papers 356, Leibniz Institut für Ost- und Südosteuropaforschung (Institute for East and Southeast European Studies).
    14. Agarwal, Sumit & He, Jia & Liu, Haoming & Png, I. P. L. & Sing, Tien Foo & Wong, Wei-Kang, 2016. "Superstition, Conspicuous Spending, and Housing Markets: Evidence from Singapore," IZA Discussion Papers 9899, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Horst Feldmann, 2019. "World Religions and Human Capital Investment: The Case of Primary Education," Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, , vol. 31(2), pages 101-123, July.

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    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • K10 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - General (Constitutional Law)
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics
    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion

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