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Is Hanukkah Responsive to Christmas?

Author

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  • Ran Abramitzky
  • Liran Einav
  • Oren Rigbi

Abstract

We use individual-level survey and county-level expenditure data to examine the extent to which Hanukkah celebrations among US Jews are driven by the presence of Christmas. We document that Jews with young children are more likely to celebrate Hanukkah, that this effect is greater for reform Jews and for strongly-identified Jews, and that Jewish-related expenditure on Hanukkah is higher in counties with lower shares of Jews. All these findings are consistent with the hypothesis that celebration of religious holidays is designed not only for worship and enjoyment but also to provide a counterbalance for children against competing cultural influences. Copyright © The Author(s). Journal compilation © Royal Economic Society 2009.

Suggested Citation

  • Ran Abramitzky & Liran Einav & Oren Rigbi, 2010. "Is Hanukkah Responsive to Christmas?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(545), pages 612-630, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecj:econjl:v:120:y:2010:i:545:p:612-630
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Danny Cohen-Zada & Todd Elder, 2012. "Religious Pluralism, Religious Market Shares and the Demand for Religious Schooling," Working Papers 1201, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Department of Economics.
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    3. Laura Birg & Anna Goeddeke, 2016. "Christmas Economics—A Sleigh Ride," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(4), pages 1980-1984, October.
    4. Eiji Yamamura & Yoshiro Tsutsui & Fumio Ohtake, 2023. "Would Monetary Incentives to COVID-19 vaccination reduce motivation?," Papers 2311.11828, arXiv.org.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion

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