Weberian Work Ethic and the Involuntariness of Unemployment

Abstract: Following Max Weber’s seminal study, many recent studies have examined religious variation in work attitudes, also relating this variation to differences in economic performance. This work, largely based on values surveys, has not resulted in unambiguous confirmation of Weber’s original thesis about a Protestant work ethic. In this paper, we suggest that part of the reason for this lack of clear support for the Weber thesis lies in problems with the interpretation of values surveys data. In response, we test the relation between Protestantism and work attitudes using a novel method that addresses fundamental limitations of previous analyses. Work ethic is operationalised as the involuntariness of joblessness as reflected in unemployment’s adverse effect on individuals’ happiness. Empirical findings—using data on 130,000 individuals from 78 countries—strongly support a Protestant work ethic: unemployment hurts Protestants more, and hurts more in Protestant societies. The results shed new light on the Protestant work ethic debate. Also, our method has wider applicability in cross-cultural comparative research.