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Religion and Income

Author

Listed:
  • L. Bettendorf

    (Erasmus University Rotterdam)

  • E. Dijkgraaf

    (SEOR-ECRi, Erasmus University Rotterdam)

Abstract

See also the article 'Religion and income: heterogeneity between countries' in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization , 74, 12-29. This paper tests whether the behaviour of households in different countries is homogeneous with respect to the influence of religion on income. The violation of the homogeneity assumption would have two consequences. First, results based on country studies might not be applicable to other countries. Second, one should be careful when pooling cross-country data in this type of research. Data at household level of the European and World Values Survey are pooled for 25 Western countries. We estimate simultaneously an income and a religion equation to correct for the endogeneity of religiosity. We find that estimation outcomes are different between low and high-income countries. Whereas church membership is found to have a positive effect on income for high-income countries, this effect is negative for low-income countries. This result is robust to denominational distribution, participation effects and alternative measures of religiosity.

Suggested Citation

  • L. Bettendorf & E. Dijkgraaf, 2008. "Religion and Income," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 08-014/3, Tinbergen Institute.
  • Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:20080014
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Chang-Keun Han & Song-Iee Hong, 2011. "Assets and Life Satisfaction Patterns Among Korean Older Adults: Latent Class Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 100(2), pages 225-240, January.
    2. Selamah Abdullah Yusof & Mohammad Arif Budiman & Ruzita Mohammad Amin, 2018. "Relationship between Religiosity and Individual Economic Achievement: Evidence from South Kalimantan, Indonesia العلاقة بين التدين والإنجاز الاقتصادي للأفراد: أدلة من جنوب كاليمانتان، إندونيسيا," Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Islamic Economics, King Abdulaziz University, Islamic Economics Institute., vol. 31(2), pages 3-16, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Income; Religious Membership; Religious Participation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution

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