Places with higher levels of religiosity have lower rates of scientific and technical innovation, as measured by patents per capita, comments Bénabou. He adds that the pattern persists when controlling for differences in income per capita, population, and rates of higher education. Thats the most salient finding from the paper by Bénabou and his colleagues, which uses an economic model to explore how scientific innovation, religiosity, and the power of the state interact to form different regimes. The three kinds of regimes that they identify: a secular, European-style regime in which religion has very little policy influence and science garners great support; a repressive, theocratic regime in which the state and religion merge to suppress science; and a more intermediate, American-style regime in which religion and science both thrive, with the state supporting science and religions (mostly) trying to accommodate themselves to its findings.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 20:53:12 +0000
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