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Do Catholic Societies Really Exist?

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  • RODNEY STARK

    (MicroCase Corporation)

Abstract

Economic theory holds that competition makes firms vigorous, whereas monopoly firms tend to be lazy. When this principle is applied to religious organizations, it leads to the prediction that the average level of religious commitment among Roman Catholics will vary inversely to the degree that a society is Catholic. This prediction is confirmed by analysis of data for 45 societies. The lower the average level of Catholic commitment, the greater the proportion of the population that claimed to be Catholic. Moreover, the recent explosive growth of Protestantism in Latin American is concentrated in the “most Catholic†nations.

Suggested Citation

  • Rodney Stark, 1992. "Do Catholic Societies Really Exist?," Rationality and Society, , vol. 4(3), pages 261-271, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ratsoc:v:4:y:1992:i:3:p:261-271
    DOI: 10.1177/1043463192004003002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Laurence R. Iannaccone, 1991. "The Consequences of Religious Market Structure," Rationality and Society, , vol. 3(2), pages 156-177, April.
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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.
    2. Anthony Gill, 1999. "Government Regulation, Social Anomie And Protestant Growth In Latin America," Rationality and Society, , vol. 11(3), pages 287-316, August.
    3. Cohen-Zada, Danny, 2006. "Preserving religious identity through education: Economic analysis and evidence from the US," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(3), pages 372-398, November.
    4. Cohen-Zada, Danny & Elder, Todd, 2018. "Religious pluralism and the transmission of religious values through education," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 325-349.

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