Protestant work ethic behind stronger northern Europe economy: study

CORDIS ^ | 2011-10-04

[Alex Murphy]

A European team of researchers led by the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom postulates that the 'Protestant work ethic' that emerged in the 19th century may have helped to propel the economies of northern Europe over their southern neighbours. The study is presented in two articles published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics and the Scandinavian Journal of Economics.

Lead author Dr Sascha Becker, the deputy head of Warwick's Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE), collated data to determine if Max Weber's Protestant Work Ethic theory - that Protestantism encouraged hard work as a duty of faith - fuelled people's understanding of how Protestant areas developed compared to Catholic areas.

In cooperation with colleagues, Dr Becker used data from 19th century Prussia and assessed 450 counties. The data show that Protestant areas had achieved higher educational levels, and the labour force was active mostly in the services and manufacturing sector rather than the agriculture sector. The figures also indicate a larger income gap between those in Protestant areas and those in Catholic areas.

'We looked at Prussia in the 19th century because this was the society that Max Weber was born into,' Dr Becker says. 'Religiosity was also more pervasive at this time. It seems religion was the main driver behind education differences, Protestants were more encouraged to go to school and read the bible, and this higher level of education translated into higher incomes than their Catholic neighbours.'

Because the Reformers followed through on plans to get church schools operating in all parishes in the Protestant areas in the 16th century, Protestants had an educational advantage over Catholics. According to the researchers, the Catholics only bridged the gap 100 years later.

'It was only centuries later when compulsory schooling was introduced that the Catholics began to catch up with the Protestants,' Dr Becker points out. 'Even today, looking at data from 2000 in Germany we found that Protestants had higher level or more education than Catholics. They also had a higher probability of going to university and finishing their course.'

The findings also show that women in Protestant areas were inclined to be more liberated because girls and boys were educated together.

Says Dr Becker: 'Again it is this educational advantage that Protestant girls were sent to school with the boys in the early years of the Reformation. It seems Protestantism was an early driver of emancipation. The order seems to be Protestant men, Protestant women, Catholic men and then far, far below are Catholic women. It is surprising that even today we find that in Scandinavia the majority of women go out to work, but in Italy it is more traditional and a larger number stay home to look after the children.'

The study is interesting, according to Dr Becker, particularly because of the current debt crisis in Europe. 'It is noticeable that the northern European countries seem to be doing well to keep their finances in check whereas in southern European countries such as Spain and Italy, everything is running out of order. I would not say you can attribute this to religion per se, but it certainly had a bearing on the way their respective economies have developed. There is a north/south divide and a popular feeling in northern Europe that they should not have to bail out their debt-ridden southern neighbours.'

[Alex Murphy]

Because the Reformers followed through on plans to get church schools operating in all parishes in the Protestant areas in the 16th century, Protestants had an educational advantage over Catholics. According to the researchers, the Catholics only bridged the gap 100 years later.

'It was only centuries later when compulsory schooling was introduced that the Catholics began to catch up with the Protestants,' Dr Becker points out. 'Even today, looking at data from 2000 in Germany we found that Protestants had higher level or more education than Catholics. They also had a higher probability of going to university and finishing their course.'

The findings also show that women in Protestant areas were inclined to be more liberated because girls and boys were educated together.

Says Dr Becker: 'Again it is this educational advantage that Protestant girls were sent to school with the boys in the early years of the Reformation. It seems Protestantism was an early driver of emancipation. The order seems to be Protestant men, Protestant women, Catholic men and then far, far below are Catholic women. It is surprising that even today we find that in Scandinavia the majority of women go out to work, but in Italy it is more traditional and a larger number stay home to look after the children.'

Related threads:
What are work ethics and how are yours?
Book review: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, by Max Weber
Capitalism, Colossians and the Miller Brewing Company
Encycli-bites for reading “Caritas in veritate”
Pope to issue encyclical on economics
Market Economy and Ethics By Cardinal Ratzinger(Pope Benedict XVI) 1985

[Carpe Cerevisi]

Ho hum...just another “Catholics are dummies” thread.

[Natural Law]

How does that jibe with China and most of the Pacific Rim out performing Northern Europe?

[Mears]

“The order seems to be Protestant men, Protestant women, Catholic men and then far, far below are Catholic women. It is surprising that even today we find that in Scandinavia the majority of women go out to work, but in Italy it is more traditional and a larger number stay home to look after the children.”

---

I never worked harder than when I stayed home and took care of my children.

[fishtank]

The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success by Rodney Stark

A Baylor University historian, Rodney Stark, would not agree:

"In explaining the West's dominance, Stark convincingly debunks long-accepted "truths." For instance, by contending that capitalism thrived centuries before there was a Protestant work ethic---or even Protestants---he counters the notion that the Protestant work ethic was responsible for kicking capitalism into overdrive. In the fifth century, Stark notes, Saint Augustine celebrated theological and material progress and the institution of "exuberant invention." By contrast, long before Augustine, Aristotle had condemned commercial trade as "inconsistent with human virtue"---which helps further underscore that Augustine's times were not the Dark Ages but the incubator for the West's future glories."

God invented the "work ethic". The Jewish people have benefited greatly from this portion of God's revelation. It's not restricted to the Reformation.

P.S. I'm a former RCC, now an evangelical Christian.

[fishtank]

Quite frankly, because China and the Pacific Rim have now learned the value of “God’s revealed work ethic”, as I prefer to call it.

[Eternal_Bear]

Not much Protestantism left in Northern Europe. Most people there are just nominal Christians. In this century, Islam will become the largest denomination there.

The UK actually started the Industrial capitalist revolution. Newton invented physics and Adam Smith invented modern capitalistism.

[Petrosius]

I think that coal deposits in northern Europe had more to do with it.

[Natural Law]

"It is surprising that even today we find that in Scandinavia the majority of women go out to work, but in Italy it is more traditional and a larger number stay home to look after the children.”

Do you not think that has more to do with the Catholic emphasis on family than the Protestant emphasis on work and prosperity?

[vladimir998]

God bless you for being so generous with your children!

[vladimir998]

Usually the Dutch are credited with inventing capitalism I think.

[wmfights]

'It is noticeable that the northern European countries seem to be doing well to keep their finances in check whereas in southern European countries such as Spain and Italy, everything is running out of order. I would not say you can attribute this to religion per se, but it certainly had a bearing on the way their respective economies have developed.

Interesting point. The PIG'S are RC; Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain. The country holding the EU up is Germany. They are socialist as well, but they don't retire until they are much older and work more hours per week.

[Clemenza]

Which is odd that our asinine immigration policy is centered on family reunification rather than skills and intelligence.

[Natural Law]

"Which is odd that our asinine immigration policy is centered on family reunification rather than skills and intelligence."

The most successful civilizations were those that put family above everything but God. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul... or his family?

[RobbyS]

Yet during the Catholic middle ages, Europe laid the economic foundations of what became the industrial Revolution. The Low countries, for instance, constructed far more machines than the Romans ever did. The Italian City states revived The Mediterranean trade, which had been suppressed by the Muslims. The Normans and other Viking , once they became christianized, played a leading role in connecting the Baltic trade with the Med. Northman founded a kingdom in Rus around the trading center in Kiev.

As for the differences between North and South, it was the Spanish who not only prevented the Turks from reclaimed the whole Med but along with the Portuguese trailblazed the world trade and the huge influx of new goods that transformed European society. The downside of the Hispanic influence was the Hidalgo culture, which was hugely influenced by the Arabs. Capitalism had a firm hold in the Low Countries, and Antwerp was a major financial center. The Spanish rule of that country not only cause the flight of capital to London and Amsterdam, but installed a baroque culture that put more stock in conspicuous consumption than in production.

[RobbyS]

Indeed, the radical individualism this this opinion exhibits denies the evidence that the family is the root of civilization. The family is what allows civilizations to persist from one generation to another. It is a small society which like all societies has its ups and downs, but it gives a context in which the young can be reared. The gays are right to think that it is not they who are destroying society but the atomization of our civilization into “units” who have given up on the future and care only about what happens during their short lifetimes.