The protestant work ethic revisited: A promising concept or an outdated idea?

The main task of this paper consists in gauging the analytical value of Max Weber´s Protestant Work Ethic, and in tackling the question of whether and how the concept is still used in current research and theory building. Reviewing existing literature, four broad areas of research are identified and discussed. It is found that the Protestant Work Ethic construct is not outdated but instead a valuable and promising approach which could add in particular to the growing research body on interactions between culture, institutions and economic outcomes.