Paper #1601

Title:

Religion and the European Union

Authors:

Benito Arruñada and Matthias Krapf

Date:

March 2018 (Revised: June 2018)

Abstract:

We review a recent literature on cultural differences across euro member states. We point out that this literature fails to address cultural differences between Protestants and Catholics, which are likely a major underlying reason for cross-country differences. We argue that confessional culture explains why Catholic countries tend to have weaker institutions but are more open to economic and political integration. EU policies after the economic crisis looked clumsy and failed to address all concerns, but were viable, caused only a manageable amount of serious backlash and tied in well with Europe’s cultural diversity, also providing scope for learning and adaption.

Keywords:

European Union, religion, values, culture.

JEL codes:

Z12, F15.

Area of Research:

Business Economics and Industrial Organization

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