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The Protestant work ethic, sometimes called the Puritan work ethic, is a Calvinist value emphasizing the necessity of constant labor in a person's calling as a sign of personal salvation. Protestants beginning with Martin Luther had reconceptualised work as a duty in the world for the benefit of the individual and society as a whole. The Catholic idea of good works was transformed into an obligation to work diligently as a sign of grace.

The term was first coined by Max Weber, the “youngest” of the German Historical School of economics, in his The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. The Protestant work ethic is often credited with helping to define the societies of Northern Europe and other Protestant countries where Protestantism was strong, such as in Scandinavia, northern Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. In such societies it is regarded by many observers as one of the cornerstones of national prosperity. This stereotype would say that people in countries with Protestant roots tend to be more materialistic, perfectionist, and more focused on work, compared to people in many Catholic countries, such as Spain, Italy and France where the people had a more relaxed attitude towards work, and were less materialistic, which raises the question on how right Protestant cultures were in equating work and corporate work, with the spirit.^{[citation needed]}

Proponents of the notion of the "Protestant work ethic" claim that the term refers to its Protestant origin and does not require Protestantism itself. As Ireland was ruled by a Protestant nation, while Japan modeled its modernization on largely Protestant nations like the United States, Great Britain and Germany, they could have received the secularized ethic from Protestants without it accepting any religious underpinning to it. Similarly, successful capitalist countries with relatively large Catholic minorities such as the United States, Australia, United Kingdom and New Zealand tend to be ignored in the analysis and lumped together as Protestant, despite the strong influence and 'capitalist outlook' of Catholics in the business community in all of these countries. Catholics make up the majority in much of Southern Germany (Bavaria has the highest GDP of all German States).

The notion of the Protestant work ethic faced some criticism in the twentieth century. The strongest of such criticism was that it revolved mostly around the culture and history of Europe and did not take into account societies that had never been Christian. Examples often cited are East Asian nations like Japan which have a strong work ethic but never had more than a small minority of Protestants. Others feel that the recent economic progress of Catholic nations like Ireland and Brazil makes the term at best of historical use.

The capitalist development of Catholic northern Italy and southwestern Germany before and during the Protestant Reformation is also cited as a counter argument that other factors, including geographical and political ones, were the main drivers for capitalist development, not Protestantism per se. Similarly, the deep economic factors that gave rise to capitalist accumulation and development existed in Europe prior to the Reformation in 1517 and owe little to any religious factor, but more to the unravelling of feudalism and the functioning of governance institutions that strengthened property rights and lowered transaction costs.

The countries of Northern Europe, as well as Germany and England, currently have the most powerful economies in Europe, stronger to those of the "Latin" European countries of Southern Europe and France. This disparity may be attributed to the "Protestant work ethic" theory, as the countries with the most successful economies have been historically dominated by Protestants.

• Protestantism
• Martin Luther
• Industrial Revolution
• The Idler (1993)
• Prosperity theology
• Work ethic
• Critical responses to Weber

Max Weber. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Chas. Scribner's sons, 1959.

Robert Green, editor. The Weber Thesis Controversy. D.C. Heath, 1973, covers some of the criticism of Weber's theory.

• Article on the Protestant Ethic from EH.NET's Encyclopedia by economist Donald Frey
• History of the Work Ethic - Roger B. Hill