
Murat Iyigun
· Professor of EconomicsUniversity of Colorado Boulder · Economics
Active 1993–2025
About
Murat Iyigun is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Colorado. His work includes research on topics such as war, peace, and prosperity, with a focus on the role of religion and demographic factors in economic development. He has contributed to the understanding of how religious conflicts and demographic changes influence economic outcomes and stability. His research has been published in journals such as the Journal of Demographic Economics, and he is affiliated with the Regents of the University of Colorado.
Research topics
- Sociology
- Social Science
- Political Science
- Epistemology
- Art
- Law
- Philosophy
- Literature
- Aesthetics
Selected publications
The Quarterly Journal of Economics · 2025-11-27 · 3 citations
articleOpen accessAbstract We trace the evolution of the language of science, religion, and political economy in the centuries leading to the British Industrial Revolution. Using textual analysis of 264,443 works printed in England between 1500 and 1900, we test whether British culture manifested a belief in progress associated with science and industry. Our analysis yields three main findings. First, there was a separation in the languages of science and religion beginning in the mid-eighteenth century. Second, volumes using language at the nexus of science and political economy became more progress-oriented during the Enlightenment. Third, volumes using industrial language—especially those at the science-political economy nexus—were more progress-oriented beginning in the eighteenth century.
Trapped in Purgatory? The Impact of Divorce Laws on Women's Welfare with Separation
SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01
preprintOpen accessThe Intensifying Effects of Prolonged Climate Change on Conflict, 1400–1900 CE
AEA Papers and Proceedings · 2024-05-01
article1st authorCorrespondingThis study uses historical conflict and weather data for the period 1400-1900 CE to investigate the long-run effects of climate change on political instability in a context that suffered extensive cooling. The results show that temperature changes have little effect on conflict if they are isolated events but that consecutive periods of cooling are associated with increased conflict. This is consistent with the conventional wisdom that societies and economies are able to adapt to a certain amount of environmental change. But if climate change is prolonged, then the disruptions they cause can cumulate and lead to political instability.
SSRN Electronic Journal · 2023 · 4 citations
- Sociology
- Social Science
- Political Science
Journal of Labor Economics · 2022-03-04 · 2 citations
article1st authorCorrespondingIn the United States, age at first marriage was lowest and the education gap between husbands and wives was highest during the 1950s. The conventional explanation for such a negative correlation is that early marriage leads to earlier and higher fertility, which in turn prevents women from acquiring education. Here, we propose that early marriages enabled couples to overcome credit constraints in education. A model that includes this motive and mechanism can replicate not only the marriage and education patterns observed in the middle of the century in the United States but also the overall trends over the twentieth century.
European Economic Review · 2021-04-07
preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding10. Religious Coexistence, Social Peace, and Prosperity
2019-12-31
article1st authorCorrespondingCauses and Consequences of Monotheism in the Supply of Religion
2019-01-01 · 1 citations
book-chapter1st authorCorresponding11. Meanwhile, in the Orient...
2019-12-31
article1st authorCorresponding2019-12-31
article1st authorCorresponding
Frequent coauthors
- 64 shared
Ann L. Owen
Hamilton College
- 62 shared
Nancy Qian
Bread for the World Institute
- 60 shared
Nathan Nunn
- 45 shared
Yoram Weiss
- 33 shared
Avner Greif
- 25 shared
Pierre‐André Chiappori
- 16 shared
Jared Rubin
Chapman University
- 13 shared
Andrew T. Levin
Dartmouth College
Education
- 1995
Ph.D., Economics
Brown University
M.A., Economics
Brown University
Other, Finance and Economics
Boston University
B.S., Business Administration
Hacettepe University
Awards & honors
- Founding Fellow of the Association for Analytical Learning o…
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