PhD defence K.T. (Tùng) Đào

Brief summary on the aim of the doctoral thesis:

This thesis deals with development, globalization, and religion. These topics have so far largely been studied in isolation (and if studied often only in a qualitative sense and based on the assumption of unidirectional causation). This thesis demonstrates the interrelationships of development, globalization, and religion and highlights the heterogeneity of signs, sizes, and causal directions of the relationships. Since development, globalization, and religion have always been deeply rooted in human nature, their relations offer a complicated research puzzle. This is further complicated by the fact that globalization and (sustainable) development are multidimensional in nature and the fuzzy concept of (non)religion that to a large extent is subjective and based on selfreporting. The aim of the thesis therefore by necessity is modest; the research project tries to contribute four small pieces to the puzzle posed by development, globalization, and religion.

The first puzzle piece relates to a significant gap in the History of Economic Thought on international trade that by and large neglects thinkers and authors of Ancient Asia. The second puzzle piece is a first look at the empirical relation between religion and globalization, focusing on the direction of religion with the use of a Granger causality analysis and the Impulse-Response Functions of a set of Vector Auto Regression models. The third puzzle piece is a complicated one: the multidimensional concept. sustainable development. The last puzzle piece that this thesis contributes is an analysis of the direct and indirect effects that religion has on sustainable development.

The pieces of the research puzzle on the (inter) relationship of development, globalization, and religion do not provide the full picture. As with any jigsaw puzzle, it is likely that some pieces are missing and that the pieces that were put together in later research may fit differently. The bottom line of the dissertation is, however, not influenced by such consideration. The conclusion from this thesis is clear: religion and its potential effects should be elements of the future discourse of development.