This chapter surveys the recent social science literature on religion in economic history, covering both socioeconomic … causes and consequences of religion. Following the rapidly growing literature, it focuses on the three main monotheisms … Islam and Islamic institutions played in political-economy outcomes and in the "long divergence" between the Middle East and …

This paper surveys the recent social science literature on religion in economic history, covering both socioeconomic … causes and consequences of religion. Following the rapidly growing literature, it focuses on the three main monotheisms … Islam and Islamic institutions played in political-economy outcomes and in the "long divergence" between the Middle East and …

, a process that accelerated even more up to 1950-1975. What explains the spread of the industrial revolution world … world financial markets also reduced the cheap capital advantage of the leaders. However, ever-cheaper labor was not a …