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An Economist’s Guide to Heaven

Author

Listed:
  • Muller, Nick
  • Gray, Jo Anna
  • Stone, Joe

Abstract

This paper is the first to offer an economic model of God and humanity as optimizing agents in the context of concrete belief archetypes (religious ‘contracts’) in Judeo-Christian theology. Data support the model’s unique predictions, despite their otherwise counterintuitive, unlikely nature. For example, the model requires that in one belief archetype, ‘good works’ not increase with strength of faith, as one might otherwise expect, and that what appears may be God’s dominant contract precisely balances divine penalties for reneging on promises with incentives to seek divine ‘gifts’—an equivalence supported in the data.

Suggested Citation

  • Muller, Nick & Gray, Jo Anna & Stone, Joe, 2010. "An Economist’s Guide to Heaven," MPRA Paper 22539, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:22539
    as

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    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/22539/1/MPRA_paper_22539.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Lipford, Jody W. & Tollison, Robert D., 2003. "Religious participation and income," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 249-260, June.
    3. Esa Mangeloja, 2003. "Application of Economic Concepts on Religious Behavior," Others 0310003, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Evelyn L. Lehrer, 2004. "Religion as a Determinant of Economic and Demographic Behavior in the United States," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 30(4), pages 707-726, December.
    5. Long, Stephen H & Settle, Russell F, 1977. "Household Allocation of Time and Church Attendance: Some Additional Evidence," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 85(2), pages 409-413, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. An economic model of God
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2010-06-08 19:17:00

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    economics; religion;

    JEL classification:

    • A1 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics

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