Do religious people hold different moral views than non-religious people? Given that a good part of religious teachings are ethical, we could think so. But where exactly are the differences between Catholics, Protestants, and other believers—and non-religious people? And, more importantly for policy insights, are there significant differences not only in views but also in economically relevant actions across denominations or even between clearly identifiable groups within one congregation?

“Religion, Moral Attitudes & Economic Behavior” (joint with Isadora Kirchmaier and Stefan Trautmann) studies and answers such questions empirically, based on a representative survey of the Dutch population and an experimental game with monetary payoffs played with the survey respondents. The paper is now forthcoming in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. Its background and some details are here. The final working paper version is here.