CEPR/CAGE Workshop on the Economics of Religion

Venice, June 10-11, 2019

Organizers: Sascha O. Becker and Jared Rubin,

Generously sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation and CAGE at Warwick University

Programme below and download here...Link opens in a new window

Sunday, 9 June 2019
All participants arrive. Dinner at 8.00pm.

Monday, 10 June 2019
Keynote 1: 8:45 -- 9:45: Maristella Botticini
“Nature or Nurture? Insights from Judaism and Jewish History, 70 - 1930”

Coffee break: 9:45 -- 10:00

Session 1: 10:00 -- 11:30
10:00 – 10:30 Religious Practice and Student Performance: Evidence from Ramadan Fasting
Erik Hornung (University of Cologne and CEPR) Guido Schwerdt (University of Konstanz) and Maurizio Strazzeri (University of Konstanz)

10:30 – 11:00 Christ's Shadow: Non-Cognitive Skills and Prosocial Behaviour Amongst the Guarani
Felipe Valencia Caicedo (University of British Columbia) and Hans-Joachim Voth (University of Zurich)

11:00 – 11:30 Can Schools Change Religious Attitudes? Evidence from German State Reforms of Compulsory Religious Education
Benjamin Arold (ifo Institute at the University of Munich) Ludger Woessmann (ifo Institute at the University of Munich), and Larissa Zierow (ifo Institute at the University of Munich)

Coffee break: 11:30 -- 11:45

Session 2: 11:45 -- 13:15
11:45 – 12:15 The Institutional Foundations of Religious Politics: Evidence from Indonesia
Samuel Bazzi (Boston University, NBER and CEPR), Gabriel Koehler-Derrick (Harvard University) and Benjamin Marx (Sciences Po)

12:15 – 12:45 Churching for Welfare: Politics and Religiosity in the US 1996-2010
Jeanet Sinding Bentzen (University of Copenhagen and CEPR) and Lena Lindbjerg Sperling (Copenhagen Business School)

12:45 – 13:15 The Economics of Missionary Expansion: Evidence from Africa and Implications for Development
Remi Jedwab (George Washington University), Felix Meier zu Selhausen (University of Sussex), Alexander Moradi (University of Sussex)

Lunch 13:15 -- 14:30

Session 3: 14:30 -- 16:00
14:30 – 15:00 The Protestant Reformation, Vernacularization, and Institutional Change
Rajesh Ramachandran (Heidelberg University) and Christine Binzel (FAU and CEPR)

15:00 – 15:30 Was Louis XIV Wrong? Socio-Economic Consequences of the Rise and Fall of Protestantism in Early Modern France
Cédric Chambru (University of Geneva)

15:30-16:00 Weber Revisited: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Nationalism
Felix Kersting (HU Berlin), Iris Wohnsiedler (HU Berlin), and Nikolaus Wolf (HU Berlin)

Coffee break: 16:00 -- 16:30

Session 4: 16:30 -- 18:00
16:30 – 17:00 God Games
Aidin Hajikhameneh (San Jose State University), Larry Iannaccone (Chapman University)

17:00 – 17:30 Supernatural Protection and Economic Behavior: Beer Retailers in Eastern DRC
Nathan Nunn (Harvard University, NBER and BREAD), Raul Sanchez de la Sierra (University of California, Berkeley) Max Winkler (University of Zurich)

17:30 – 18:00 Randomizing Religion: The Impact of Protestant Evangelism on Economic Outcomes
Gharad Bryan (London School of Economics and CEPR), James J. Choi (Yale University), Dean Karlan (Northwestern University)

Dinner: 20:00: Location TBD

Tuesday, 11 June 2019

Keynote 2: 8:45 -- 9:45: Robert Barro and Rachel McCleary
“Martyrs and Saints in Catholicism”

Coffee break: 09:45 -- 10:00

Session 5: 10:00 -- 11:30
10:00 – 10:30 Leader Identity and Coordination
Sonia Bhalotra (University of Essex), Irma Clots-Figueras (Universidad Carlos III Madrid), Lakshmi Iyer (University of Notre Dame), Joseph Vecci (University of Gothenburg)

10:30- 11:00 Religious Legitimacy and the Long Divergence: Culture and Institutions in the West and in the Muslim World
Alberto Bisin (New York University and CEPR), Jared Rubin (Chapman University), Avner Seror (Chapman University), Thierry Verdier (Paris School of Economics)

11:00 – 11:30 The Economics of Religious Communities: Social Integration, Discrimination and Radicalization
Jean-Paul Carvalho (University of California, Irvine) and Michael Sacks (University of Louisville)

Coffee break: 11:30 -- 11:45

Session 6: 11:45 -- 13:15
11:45 – 12:15 Religiosity and Terrorism: Evidence from Ramadan Fasting
Roland Hodler (University of St Gallen and CEPR), Paul A. Raschky (Monash University) and Anthony Strittmatter (University of St Gallen)

12:15 – 12:45 Secularization and Religious Backlash: Evidence from Turkey
Seyhun Orcan Sakalli (University of Lausanne)

12:45 – 13:45 Stop Suffering! Economic Downturns and Pentecostal Upsurge
Francisco Costa (FGV EPGE Brazilian School of Economics and Finance)

Lunch 13:15 -- 14:30

Session 7: 14:30 -- 16:00
14:30 – 15:00 Effects of Catholic Censorship during the Counter-Reformation
Sascha O. Becker (University of Warwick and CEPR), Francisco J. Pino (University of Chile) and Jordi Vidal-Robert (University of Sydney)

15:00 – 15:30 Sex and the Mission: The Conflicting Effects of Early Christian Investments on the HIV Epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa
Julia Cagé (Sciences Po Paris and CEPR) and Valeria Rueda (Pembroke College, Oxford University)

15:30 – 16:00 Ethnic and Religious Intergenerational Mobility in Africa
Alberto Alesina (Harvard University, NBER and CEPR), Sebastian Hohmann (London Business School), Stelios Michalopoulos (Brown University, NBER, and CEPR), Elias Papaioannou (London Business School and CEPR)

Coffee break: 16:00 -- 16:30

Session 8: 16:30 -- 17:30
16:30 – 17:00 Markov Modeling of Cultural Evolution: an Application to Theistic Dynamics
Murat Iyigun (University of Colorado at Boulder and IZA) and Miles Kimball (University of Colorado at Boulder and NBER)

17:00 – 17:30 The Strategic Game between Autocratic Power, the Military, and the Clerics
Emmanuelle Auriol (Toulouse School of Economics), Jean-Philippe Platteau (University of Namur), and Thierry Verdier (Paris School of Economics)

Keynote 3: 17:30 -- 18:30: Timur Kuran
“Uncovering Links between Islam and Economic Performance: Uses of Court Records”

Dinner: 20:00: Location TBD
Each session is 30 minutes in duration Author: 20-25 mins | Questions: 5-10 mins indicates presenting author