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Full-Text Articles in Political Economy
Religion And Innovation, Roland Bénabou, Davide Ticchi, Andrea Vindigni
Religion And Innovation, Roland Bénabou, Davide Ticchi, Andrea Vindigni
Davide Ticchi
In earlier work (Bénabou, Ticchi and Vindigni 2013) we uncovered a robust negative association between religiosity and patents per capita, holding across countries as well as US states, with and without controls. In this paper we turn to the individual level, examining the relationship between religiosity and a broad set of pro- or anti-innovation attitudes in all five waves of the World Values Survey (1980 to 2005). We thus relate eleven indicators of individual openness to innovation, broadly defined (e.g., attitudes toward science and technology, new versus old ideas, change, risk taking, personal agency, imagination and independence in children) to …
Forbidden Fruits: The Political Economy Of Science, Religion, And Growth, Roland Bénabou, Davide Ticchi, Andrea Vindigni
Forbidden Fruits: The Political Economy Of Science, Religion, And Growth, Roland Bénabou, Davide Ticchi, Andrea Vindigni
Davide Ticchi
We study the coevolution of religion, science and politics. We first uncover, in international and U.S. data, a robust negative relationship between religiosity and patents per capita. The model then combines: (i) scientific discoveries that raise productivity but sometimes erode religious beliefs; (ii) a government that allows innovations to diffuse, or blocks them; (iii) religious institutions that can invest in doctrinal reform. Three long-term outcomes emerge. The “Western-European Secularization” regime has declining religiosity, unimpeded science, and high taxes and transfers. The “Theocratic” regime involves knowledge stagnation, unquestioned dogma, and high religious-public-goods spending. The “American” regime combines scientific progress and stable …