Luan Vinicius Bernardelli

This thesis contains three independent but interrelated essays. In essence, we empirically investigated the relationship between religion and economic development using data drawn from the 1991, 2000, and 2010 Brazilian Censuses. The first essay examines the relationship between wages and religious affiliation using conventional human capital earnings functions. The second essay examines the influence of religious affiliation on child mortality. The third and final essay examines the association between human development (as measured by the human development index) and the growth of Protestantism in Brazil. The principal findings from each essay are summarised. In the first essay, Brazilian men and women who identify as traditional Protestants receive a small wage premium compared to those who identify as Catholics – the largest religious denomination in Brazil – even after controlling for a range of demographic and social characteristics (conversely, men and women who identify as Pentecostal Protestants received a sizeable wage penalty). In the second essay, it was estimated that the death rate of children born to Protestant mothers is 6% lower than other mothers while controlling for a range of demographic and economic factors. In the third essay, we find a statistically significant positive association between Protestantism and economic development while controlling for an extensive array of demographic and social factors. Overall, this thesis suggests that religion may influence economic development in contemporary Brazil at both the micro-level (through its influence on health and wages) and the macro-level (through its influence on human development).