The Invisible Hand Plays Dice: Eventualities in Religious Markets
Panu Poutvaara and
Andreas Wagener
Others from University Library of Munich, Germany
Abstract:
Religious participation is much more widespread in the United States than in Europe, while Europeans tend to view sects more suspiciously than Americans. We propose an explanation for these patterns without assuming differences in preferences or market fundamentals. Religious markets may have multiple equilibria, suggesting that observed differences in religious structures may merely be eventualities. Further, equilibria with more sects result in higher welfare and lower membership costs, as secular societies tend to host on average more demanding sects. Our main methodological contribution to the theory of religious markets is endogenizing simultaneously supply and demand of spiritual services.
Keywords: Sects; religion; tithes; religious markets; occupational choice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D71 J24 L89 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 19 pages
Date: 2004-06-23
Note: Type of Document - pdf; pages: 19
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)
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https://econwpa.ub.uni-muenchen.de/econ-wp/othr/papers/0406/0406005.pdf (application/pdf)
Related works:
Working Paper: The Invisible Hand Plays Dice: Eventualities in Religious Markets (2004)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wpa:wuwpot:0406005
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