Losing their religion

Shqiponja studies the relationship between economic prosperity and religion through the lens of social norms. In a social equilibrium framework, where a society is one realisation of many possible equilibria, the research models how the Albanian government increased female participation in education and employment by changing the social equilibrium through credibly committing to communist ideals.

This shift was accomplished by declaring Albania the First Atheist country in the world in 1967 and through the de-sanctification of its religious buildings, excluding those deemed national cultural monuments 20 years prior. The research uses the variation in spared buildings to measure the credibility of the government’s commitment to female emancipation in each municipality.

Using forty years of hand-transcribed administrative data, the findings show that in the decades following the reform, municipalities in which all religious buildings were de-sanctified experienced higher growth in female schooling, labour market participation, and production.

This event will be particularly useful for researchers, policymakers, academics and students.

Related links

• QSS and CLS seminar series
• Quantitative Social Science
• Centre for Longitudinal Studies
• Social Research Institute

Image

Tim Mossholder via Unsplash.