eprintid: 2692
rev_number: 6
eprint_status: archive
userid: 69
dir: disk0/00/00/26/92
datestamp: 2015-05-20 11:55:31
lastmod: 2015-05-20 11:55:31
status_changed: 2015-05-20 11:55:31
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Bénabou, Roland
creators_name: Ticchi, Davide
creators_name: Vindigni, Andrea
creators_id: 
creators_id: davide.ticchi@imtlucca.it
creators_id: andrea.vindigni@imtlucca.it
title: Religion and innovation
ispublished: pub
subjects: BL
subjects: HB
divisions: EIC
full_text_status: none
keywords: JEL codes: O31, O34, Z12 - Keywords: Intellectual property, Religion, Cultural economics, Innovation


abstract: In earlier work we identified a robust negative association between religiosity and patents per capita, holding across countries as well as US states. In this paper we relate 11 indicators of individual openness to innovation (e.g., attitudes toward science and technology, new versus old ideas, change, risk taking, agency, imagination, and independence in children) to 5 measures of religiosity, including beliefs and attendance. We use five waves of the World Values Survey and control for sociodemographics, country and year fixed effects. Across the 52 regressions, greater religiosity is almost uniformly associated to less favorable views of innovation, with high significance.
date: 2015-05
date_type: published
publication: American Economic Review
volume: 105
number: 5
publisher: American Economic Association
pagerange: 346-351
id_number: 10.1257/aer.p20151032
refereed: TRUE
issn: 0002-8282
official_url: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/aer.p20151032
citation:   Bénabou, Roland and Ticchi, Davide and Vindigni, Andrea  Religion and innovation.  American Economic Review, 105 (5).  pp. 346-351.  ISSN 0002-8282      (2015)