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A Firm Entry Approach to Religious Pluralism and Religious Participation

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  • Michael W. Walrath

    (University of St. Thomas Department of Economics)

Abstract

There are two competing theories regarding the effect of religious pluralism on participation. One argument (Sacred Canopy) is that increased religious diversity will decrease individuals' beliefs and participation. The other case (Religious Economies) is that increased religious competition will increase interest and participation. Voas, Crockett and Olson (2002) show that the previously standard way of testing these two competing theories is incorrect. This paper draws on the firm entry literature from industrial organization to present a different test of these theories. Specifically, an entry model inspired by Bresnahan and Reiss (1991) is used to test whether an increase in the number of denominations in a (small, isolated) market increases or decreases religious enthusiasm.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael W. Walrath, 2017. "A Firm Entry Approach to Religious Pluralism and Religious Participation," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 37(3), pages 1805-1816.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-17-00594
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael W. Walrath, 2016. "Entry Models Applied to Churches: Could Protestants use a Catholic Bishop to Solve Excess Entry?," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(3), pages 557-588, September.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Entry; market structure; religious organizations;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L2 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics

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