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"And forgive US our debts": Do Christian moralities influence over-indebtedness of individuals?

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  • Hasan, Iftekhar
  • Kiesel, Konstantin
  • Noth, Felix

Abstract

This paper analyses whether Christian moralities and rules formed differently by Catholics and Protestants impact the likelihood of households to become overindebted. We find that over-indebtedness is lower in regions in which Catholics outweigh Protestants, indicating that Catholics' forgiveness culture and a stricter enforcement of rules by Protestants serve as explanations for our results. Our results provide evidence that religion affects the financial situations of individuals and show that even 500 years after the split between Catholics and Protestants, the differences in the mind-sets of both denominations play an important role for situations of severe financial conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Hasan, Iftekhar & Kiesel, Konstantin & Noth, Felix, 2019. ""And forgive US our debts": Do Christian moralities influence over-indebtedness of individuals?," IWH Discussion Papers 8/2019, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:iwhdps:82019
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Hasan, Iftekhar & Noth, Felix & Tonzer, Lena, 2019. "Thou shalt not bear false witness against your customers: Cultural norms and the Volkswagen scandal," IWH Discussion Papers 21/2019, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    2. Hasan, Iftekhar & Noth, Felix & Tonzer, Lena, 2023. "Cultural norms and corporate fraud: Evidence from the Volkswagen scandal," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    over-indebtedness; religion; forgiveness; enforcement;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion

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