Can Schools Change Religious Attitudes?
利用德国各州取消强制宗教教育的改革，研究发现该改革显著降低了受影响学生成年后的宗教信仰和宗教行为，同时提高了劳动参与率和收入，但未影响伦理政治价值观。
We study whether compulsory religious education in schools affects students’ religiosity as adults. We exploit the staggered termination of compulsory religious education across German states in models with state and cohort fixed effects. Using three different datasets, we find that a reform abolishing compulsory religious education significantly reduced the religiosity of affected students in adulthood. It also reduced the religious actions of personal prayer, church-going, and church membership. Beyond religious attitudes, and consistent with a shift towards worldly norms and economic activities, the reform led to higher labor-market participation and earnings. By contrast, the reform did not affect ethical and political values or non-religious school outcomes.