Religion and Educational Attainment in East Asia: First Evidence from the East Asian Social Survey

In this research note, I analyse the effects of religion on educational attainment in four East Asian countries (China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan) using the East Asian Social Survey. Controlling for a host of background variables, ordinary least squares (OLS) estimates of educational attainment show that Catholics and Orthodox Christians have on average more education than those with no religious affiliation, while the followers of other Eastern religions (including, among others, Taoism and syncretistic beliefs) have on average less education. The effects for Protestantism and Buddhism differ across the four different countries, probably because they both include various denominations and schools.