TY  - JOUR
AU  - Sacerdote,Bruce
AU  - Glaeser,Edward L.
TI  - Education and Religion
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 8080
PY  - 2001
Y2  - January 2001
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w8080
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w8080.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Bruce Sacerdote
6106 Rockefeller Hall
Department of Economics
Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH 03755-3514
Tel: 603/646-2121
Fax: 603/646-2122
E-Mail: Bruce.I.Sacerdote@dartmouth.edu

Edward L. Glaeser
Department of Economics
315A Littauer Center
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: 617/495-0575
Fax: 617/495-7730
E-Mail: eglaeser@harvard.edu
AB  - In the United States, religious attendance rises sharply with education across individuals, but religious attendance declines sharply with education across denominations.  This puzzle is explained if education both increases the returns to social connection and reduces the extent of religious belief. The positive effect of education on sociability explains the positive education-religion relationship.  The negative effect of education on religious belief causes more educated individuals to sort into less fervent religions, which explains the negative relationship between education and religion across denominations. Cross-country differences in the impact of education on religious belief can explain the large cross-country variation in the education-religion connection.  These cross-country differences in the education-belief relationship can be explained by political factors (such as communism) which lead some countries to use state-controlled education to discredit religion.
ER  -