Poor countries cannot develop without improving their citizens' basic education and literacy, which is critical for promoting economic growth, reducing infant mortality, improving family health, and dampening population growth. Yet the average literacy rate among the 30 poorest countries is only 33%

This study presents an evolutionary process of secularization that integrates a theoretical model, simulations, and an empirical estimation that employs data from 32 countries (included in the International Social Survey Program: Religion II – ISSP, 1998). Following Bisin and Verdier (2000,...