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Title: Making Sect Life Better: Amish Prohibition of High School Education

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2009

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Abstract: Given the positive returns to education, the Amish prohibition of high school educationappears puzzling from a rational choice perspective. I extend Iannaccones (1992)religious club model to explain why the Amish would collectively object to high schooleducation and refuse to comply with compulsory schooling laws. Because the Amishspeak Pennsylvania Dutch, I can identify them from the U.S. Census and use thesurprising 1972 U.S. Supreme Courts decision in Wisconsin vs. Yoder, which exemptsAmish children from compulsory high school education, as a policy shock to test thepredictions of the Amish religious club model. The models predictions are empiricallysupported: I find that successful prohibition of high school education (1) led to higherAmish attrition rates immediately following the Supreme Courts decision; and (2)helped the Amish sect exclude individuals who would lower the quality of the sect.

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Authors: Wang, Liang C.

Publisher: University of California, San Diego

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Education

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