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Religion and Economy

Joint Research Seminar of the Department of Applied Economics and the Department of Organizational Management 

Religion and Economy 

Robert Barro, Paul M. Warburg Professor of Economics, Harvard University 

May 27, 2005, Friday, 3.00-4.30pm, Si Ji Ting Yuan of Peking University Hall (北大百周年纪念讲堂四季庭院报告厅)

Abstract

When religion is viewed as a dependent variable, the important issues are how religiosity responds to economic development and state influence.  One important theory is the secularization hypothesis. Another line of theory, reminiscent of Smith, is the religion-market model. When religion is viewed as an independent variable, as in the principal Weberian analysis, religious beliefs and practices influence productivity and economic growth.

Empirical research at the country-wide level has exploited several international surveys of individual beliefs and practices.  The data sets include four waves of the World Values Survey, two waves of the International Social Survey Program, and the Gallup Millennium Survey.  One finding is that higher beliefs related to an after-life encourage economic growth.  For given beliefs, greater participation in formal religious services retards growth—that is, Grace Davie’s concept of believing relative to belonging appears to be the variable that influences economic performance.  Other results are that religiosity declines overall with economic development, falls sharply under Communism, and decreases with state regulation of religion.  However, religiosity rises with increased pluralism in religious adherence.  The presence of state religion also appears to encourage religiosity, probably through subsidies on religious activity.

Ongoing research seeks to explain the presence of state religion and, more generally, various dimensions of the interplay between state and religion.  The most important predictor of the presence of state religion is the fraction of persons who adhere to a country’s main religion.  Other significant factors are country size, current and past Communism, and the extent of religious liberties.

Robert Barro is Paul M. Warburg Professor of Economics at the Department of Economics of Harvard University. He earned his PhD in Economics from Harvard. He is well known around the world for his research on macroeconomic theories especially economic growth theory. Professor Barro is a leading scholar in the economics of religion, a newly emerging field in the social sciences.

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