Research
Journal Articles
Holy Cows and Spilt Milk: The Impact of Religious Missions on Firm-Level Productivity (2026). With Nina Boberg-Fazlic, Paul Sharp, Christian Skovsgaard, and Christian Vedel. Journal of Development Economics 179. [Pre-pub version]
Divine Policy: The Impact of Religion in Government (2025) With Alessandro Pizzigolotto and Lena Lindbjerg Sperling. Forthcoming at the AEJ: Applied Economics. Previously circulated under the title God Politics.
The Power of Religion (2023) Journal of Economic Growth 28, 45-78. With Gunes Gokmen. [Data] [Pre-pub version] [Summary]
In Crisis We Pray: Religiosity and the COVID-19 Pandemic (2021) Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 192, p 541-583. Among most cited in JEBO 2020-2023. [Data] [voxeu column] Selected press coverage by The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Telegraph, Psychology Today, Freakonomics Radio, The Tablet, The Conversation, Berlingske Tidende.
Acts of God? Religiosity and Natural Disasters Across Subnational World Districts (2019), The Economic Journal 129(622) 2295-2321. 2nd most cited in EJ 2018-2023. [Data] [Online Appendix] Selected press coverage by The London Times, The Church Times, OUP blog.
Power and Persistence: The Indigenous Roots of Representative Democracy (2019) The Economic Journal 129(618) 678-714. With Jacob Gerner Hariri and James A. Robinson. [Data] [Online Appendix]
Irrigation and Autocracy (2017) Journal of European Economic Association 15(1), February. Lead article. With Nicolai Kaarsen and Asger Moll Wingender. [Data] Selected press coverage by Marginal Revolution and Weekendavisen.
Pre-Reformation Roots of the Protestant Ethic (2017) The Economic Journal 127(604) 1756-1793. With Thomas Barnebeck Andersen, Carl-Johan Dalgaard, and Paul Sharp. [Data] Features on voxeu. Press coverage by Weekendavisen. Reply to Sonntag.
Lightning, IT Diffusion and Economic Growth across US States (2012) Review of Economics and Statistics 94(4) 903-924. With Thomas Barnebeck Andersen, Carl-Johan Dalgaard and Pablo Selaya. [Data] [Online Appendix] Selected press coverage by The Wall Street Journal, Politiken.
How Bad is Corruption? Cross-Country Evidence of the Impact of Corruption on Economic Development (2012) Review of Development Economics 16(1) 167-184. [Online Appendix]
Does the Internet Reduce Corruption? Evidence From U.S. States and Across Countries (2011), World Bank Economic Review 25(3) 387-417. With Thomas Barnebeck Andersen, Carl-Johan Dalgaard and Pablo Selaya.
Credit Demand in Mozambican Manufacturing (2010), Journal of International Development 22(1) 37-55. With Bruce Byiers, John Rand and Finn Tarp.
Trade and Development: Lessons from Vietnam's Past Trade Agreements (2009), World Development 37(2) 341-353. With Philip Abbott and Finn Tarp.
Working Papers
In the Name of God! Religiosity and the Production of Science (2025). With Lars Harhoff Andersen. CEPR Discussion Paper DP16938 (2022) version here. Rewrite & resubmit at the Review of Economic Studies. [Summary]
Religion and Global Cultural Diversity (2025) With Anne Sofie Beck Knudsen, Lena Sperling, and Ara Norenzayan, rewritten & resubmitted at Nature Communications.
Do First Names Reveal Beliefs? Evidence from Danish Administrative Data. With Anne Sofie Beck Knudsen and Ekaterina Travova. CEPR Discussion Paper.
Assimilate for God: Divergent Paths of Cultural and Economic Integration Among Danish Americans. With Nina Boberg-Fazlic, Paul Sharp, Christian Skovsgaard, and Christian Vedel. CEPR Discussion Paper. Submitted.
Invited Book chapters
Law, Religion, and Economics (2025) With Niels Kærgård, Chapter in Routledge Handbook of Law and Religion. II Edition (Editors: Rossella Bottoni and Cristiana Cianitto).
Did seismic activity lead to the rise of religions? (2023) With Eric R. Force. Chapter in Handbook of Economics and Religion, World Scientific (Editor: Robert Sauer). [CEPR Discussion Paper].
Religiosity and Development (2021) Chapter in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance, Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/acrefore/9780190625979.013.688. [Online Appendix]
Why are some societies more religious than others? (2019) Chapter in Advances in the economics of religion, Palgrave, International Economics Association (Jean-Paul Carvalho, Jared Rubin, and Sriya Iyers, Editors).
Work in Progress
Names. With Lars Harhoff Andersen, Anne Sofie Beck Knudsen, Tom Raster, and Ekaterina Travova.
Religiosity and Risky Behavior. With Anne Sofie Beck Knudsen and Ekaterina Travova. Presented.
Religiosity and Economic Growth. With Lars Harhoff Andersen. Presented.
Adam's Rib and Women's Rights. With Hans-Joachim Voth. Presented.
Religion and Gender Roles. With Sascha O. Becker and Chun Chee Kok. Presented.