Protestants and Catholics: Similar work ethic, different social ethic

This article develops two hypotheses about economically-relevant values of Christianbelievers, according to which Protestants should work more and more effectively, as in the work ethic argument of Max Weber, or display a stronger social ethic that would lead themto monitor each other s conduct, support political and legal institutions and hold morehomogeneous values. Tests using current survey data confirm substantial partial correlations andpossible different effects in mutual social control, institutional performance and homogeneityof values but no difference in work ethics. Protestantism therefore seems conducive to capitalisteconomic development, not by the direct psychological route of the Weberian work ethic butrather by promoting an alternative social ethic that facilitates impersonal trade.

La universalidad del concepto de libertad en La vida es sueño de Calderón de la Barca

Enfront dels corrents que neguen que l’ésser humà pugui ser autènticament lliure, La vida es sueño presenta una poderosa afirmació de la llibertat. Veritable refutació teològica en llenguatge dramàtic, l’obra de Calderón respon a les doctrines protestants de la seva època que propugnen la predestinació i el serf arbitri: els versos calderonians tradueixen l’ensenyament catòlic que afirma a Trento la cooperació del lliure albir a la moció de la gràcia. Així, el príncep encadenat per un fat que profetitzava la seva crueltat, conquereix la llibertat en acceptar la gràcia revelada a través del somni i mostrar-se com a sobirà just. Però més enllà del seu context, La vida es sueño pot rebatre també les teories que, com el psicoanàlisi, sostenen que els instints dominen l’home i li impedeixen ser lliure. En efecte, tot i deixar-se arrossegar per les passions en el seu primer alliberament, el protagonista no assoleix la llibertat fins que per mitjà de la virtut sotmet la seva voluntat a la recta raó i aconsegueix el domini sobre sí mateix. El concepte de llibertat que encarna Segismundo transcendeix la seva època i estableix un diàleg amb l’actualitat que entranya un gran potencial educatiu.

The Economic Effects of Christian Moralities

This article examines the different influences that Catholicism and Protestantism exert on economically relevant values. It argues that Catholic theology and practice facilitate personal transactions while Protestantism favors values and types of moral and legal enforcement better adapted for impersonal trade. Protestantism may thus be more conducive to economic growth through anonymous exchange while Catholicism may provide better support for personal contracting. Several components of this hypothesis are confirmed using statistical models with data from the 1998 ISSP international survey on religion. These show that Protestants are more trusting of anonymous counter parties, develop more reliable institutions for legal enforcement and are more willing to spend resources on monitoring and punishing other members of the community. Catholicism is more protective of the family and small-group relationships, and provides more tolerant and less motivating beliefs. Relatively smaller and less consistent differences appear in terms of worldly personal success and incentives.

Predestination and the Protestant ethic

This paper shows an equivalence result between the utility functions of secularagents who abide by a moral obligation to accumulate wealth and those of religiousagents who believe that salvation is immutable and preordained by God. Thisresult formalizes Weber's renowned thesis on the connection between the worldlyasceticism of Protestants and the religious premises of Calvinism. Furthermore,ongoing economies are often modeled with preference relations such as "Keeping upwith the Joneses" which are not associated with religion. Our results relate thesesecular economies of today and economies of the past shaped by religious ideas.