Keough faculty member Lakshmi Iyer, a Kellogg faculty fellow, was recently featured in the article “New study claims John Paul II’s visits boosted fertility rates across Latin America” in the Catholic Herald.
A new study claims that through the stressing of themes of marriage and family during his visits across the region between 1979 to 1996, St. John Paul II was responsible for the boosting of fertility rates.
A research team at Notre Dame found that although increased fertility wasn’t a direct object of the late pope’s travels, his messaging reinforced cultural norms in Latin America, causing a significant increase in birth rates.
Iyer says, “These results indicate that people are really listening to what the pope has to say.”
Iyer is a professor of economics whose research is primarily in developmental economics and political economy, with an emphasis on property rights and the distribution of political power within societies.