A Cross-Country Study of Innovation and Religiosity

Abstract

We look at the relationship between religion and innovation at the country level. Innovation is captured by the Global Innovation Index and certain innovation outputs. Religiosity is measured across 141 countries in terms of religious belonging, belief, and intolerance. In addition, we look at the effect of religion on patent applications and university-industry collaboration. Across all specifications, greater religiosity is negatively associated with innovation, with the strongest effects observed for religious intolerance. We find the negative relationship is robust to all religions, except for the Church of Sweden, where we see a strong position association.

Keywords: innovation, religion, GII, patents

JEL Classification: O30, O50, Z12