För några år sedan publicerades artikeln ”Religion and Economic Growth Across Countries” i American Sociological Review (preliminär gratisversion här), och ett av resultaten däri var detta:

We find that economic growth responds positively to the extent of religious beliefs, notably those in hell and heaven, but negatively to church attendance.

Nu har en ny studie kommit, ”Is God in the Details: A Reexamination of the Role of Religion in Economic Growth”, som undersöker om detta resultat är robust:

We find that while their analysis is statistically replicable, it is not statistically robust. In particular, we find no evidence that religious beliefs play a significant role in enhancing growth outcomes. There is little evidence of a religion/growth nexus. At best, our findings suggest that there may be weak evidence for a negative effect of religious participation on growth. As a result, we conclude that God is not in the details, at least not in so far as their claims that religion is good for growth.

Där ser man.