Protestantism and human capital: Evidence from early 20th century Ireland
利用1901年爱尔兰人口普查数据，研究发现新教（尤其是长老会）信徒的识字率显著高于天主教徒，且这一差异在控制多种因素后依然稳健，表明宗教归属通过影响参与宗教和文化生活的激励而影响人力资本积累。
Using a large individual-level dataset, we explore the significance of religious affiliation for human capital variation in Ireland at the turn of the twentieth century. We construct a large sample based on the returns of male household heads in the 1901 census and explore variation in literacy across the three principal denominations: Roman Catholicism , Anglicanism and Presbyterianism. Protestantism , particularly Presbyterianism, is associated with higher levels of human capital. This denominational effect is remarkably robust, even when accounting for various control variables and alternative modelling specifications. Supplementary analyses reveal that these literacy disparities existed before the foundation of centralised national schooling in 1831 and were independent of school attendance, as Presbyterians exhibited lower attendance rates than Anglicans. We suggest that denomination mattered because it affected the incentives to accrue literacy ability to fully participate in religious and wider cultural life.