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A Model of Religion and Death

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  • Derek Pyne

    (Department of Economics. University of Waterloo, Canada)

Abstract

This paper attempts to explain several empirical findings regarding religion. The main one is between religion and the fear of death. Some empirical evidence indicates moderately religious individuals fear death more than either atheists or extremely religious individuals. The model also explains the positive relationship often found between religious activity (e.g. church attendance) and age. It also provides an explanation of the positive relationship between education and religious activity despite a negative relationship between education and religious belief.

Suggested Citation

  • Derek Pyne, 2008. "A Model of Religion and Death," Papers on Economics of Religion 08/06, Department of Economic Theory and Economic History of the University of Granada..
    • Handle: RePEc:gra:paoner:08/06
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    File URL: http://www.ugr.es/~teoriahe/RePEc/gra/paoner/per08_06.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. McCleary, Rachel & Barro, Robert, 2003. "Religion and Economic Growth across Countries," Scholarly Articles 3708464, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    2. Paul Wink & Julia Scott, 2005. "Does Religiousness Buffer Against the Fear of Death and Dying in Late Adulthood? Findings From a Longitudinal Study," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 60(4), pages 207-214.
    3. Iannaccone, Laurence R & Finke, Roger & Stark, Rodney, 1997. "Deregulating Religion: The Economics of Church and State," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 35(2), pages 350-364, April.
    4. Edward L. Glaeser & Bruce I. Sacerdote, 2008. "Education and Religion," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(2), pages 188-215.
    5. Glenn W. Harrison & Morten I. Lau & Melonie B. Williams, 2002. "Estimating Individual Discount Rates in Denmark: A Field Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(5), pages 1606-1617, December.
    6. S. Brock Blomberg & Thomas DeLeire & Gregory D. Hess, 2006. "The (After) Life-Cycle Theory of Religious Contributions," CESifo Working Paper Series 1854, CESifo.
    7. Hollander, Gideon & Kahana, Nava & Lecker, Tikva, 2003. "Religious and secular human capital: an economic model," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 489-498, November.
    8. Pablo BraÒas-Garza & Shoshana Neuman, 2004. "Analyzing Religiosity within an Economic Framework: The Case of Spanish Catholics," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 5-22, March.
    9. Robert J. Barro & Rachel McCleary, 2003. "Religion and Economic Growth," NBER Working Papers 9682, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Azzi, Corry & Ehrenberg, Ronald G, 1975. "Household Allocation of Time and Church Attendance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 83(1), pages 27-56, February.
    11. Brañas-Garza, Pablo & García-Muñoz, Teresa & Neuman, Shoshana, 2008. "The Big Carrot: High Stake Incentives Revisited," IZA Discussion Papers 3287, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Ross Stolzenberg & Mary Blair-Loy & Linda J. Waite, "undated". "Religious Participation Over the Early Life Course: Age and Family Life Cycle Effects on Church Membership," University of Chicago - Population Research Center 94-14, Chicago - Population Research Center.
    13. Brown, Sarah & Taylor, Karl, 2007. "Religion and education: Evidence from the National Child Development Study," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 439-460, July.
    14. Sander, William, 2002. "Religion and human capital," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 75(3), pages 303-307, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Tere M. García-Muñoz, 2009. "Incentives in Religious Performance: a Stochastic Dominance Approach," ThE Papers 09/10, Department of Economic Theory and Economic History of the University of Granada..
    2. Pyne, Derek, 2013. "An afterlife capital model of religious choice," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 32-44.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fear; death; anxiety; religion;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion

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