Economics of Religion
Conscience + Moral Injury
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Saints + Martyrs
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Economics of Religion
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Evangelicals in Guatemala
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Guatemalan Mask + Dances
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Conscience + Moral Injury • Saints + Martyrs • Economics of Religion • Evangelicals in Guatemala • Guatemalan Mask + Dances •
OVERVIEW
The field of economics of religion is interdisciplinary investigating how religion interacts with economic performance and the political and social behavior of individuals and institutions across societies. Adam Smith first made reference to the church and competition between religions in The Wealth of Nations (1776) and in his earlier work The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1959). Smith discusses the nature of competition and religious pluralism. In our research we seek to learn, for example, how religiosity responds to economic development and to government regulation, subsidy, and suppression. We want to know why some countries establish official state religions and how the associated subsidies and regulations influence religious activity. We also are studying how religious beliefs and practices influence productivity, economic growth, and the maintenance of political institutions such as democracy. In addition, we want to know how religiosity interacts with violence within societies and across international borders.
Books
The Wealth of Religions: The Political Economy of Believing and Belonging (with Robert J. Barro), Princeton University Press, 2019.
Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Religion, editor, Oxford University Press, 2011.
Articles + Chapters
“Religious Conversion in 40 Countries,” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 49, 1 (2010):15–36 (with Robert J. Barro and Jason Hwang).
“The Market Approach to the Rise of the Geluk School in Tibet, 1419-1642,” Journal of Asian Studies 69, 1 (February 2010): 149-180 (with Leonard van der Kuijp).
“Religion and Economic Development: A Two-way Causation,” Policy Review 148, (April – May 2008): 45–57.
“The Economics of Religion and Secularization,” The Review of Faith & International Affairs, 5, 1 (Spring 2007): 43-47.
“Salvation, Damnation, and Economic Incentives,” Journal of Contemporary Religion, 22, 1 (January 2007): 49-74.
“Religion and Political Economy in an International Panel,” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 45, 2 (June 2006):149–175 (with Robert J. Barro)
“Religion and Economy,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20, 2 (Spring, 2006): 49-72 (with Robert J. Barro).
“Political Economy and Religion in the Spirit of Max Weber,” in Victor Nee and Richard Swedberg (eds.), Spirit of Global Capitalism, Stanford University Press, 2006 (with Robert J. Barro).
“Religion and Economy,” Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, Oxford, Blackwell, 2005.
“Which Countries Have State Religions?” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 4, 1 (November 2005): 1331-1370 (with Robert Barro).
“Religion and Economic Growth,” Milken Institute Review (April 2004): 36-45 (with Robert J. Barro).
“Religion and Economic Growth Across Countries,” American Sociological Review, 68, 5 (October 2003): 760-781 (with Robert J. Barro).