The Effect of Income on Religiousness

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Buser, Thomas
• 署名单位: University of Amsterdam
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-APPLIED ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7782
• DOI: 10.1257/app.20140162
• 发表日期: 2015
• 页码: 178-195
• 关键词: sacrifice; ECONOMY; GOODS

摘要

How does income affect religiousness? Using self-collected survey data, we estimate the effects of income on religious behavior. As a source of exogenous income variation we use a change in the eligibility criteria for a government cash transfer in Ecuador and apply a regression discontinuity strategy to estimate causal effects. We find significant effects of income on religiousness. Families that earn more go to church more often. Families that earn more are also more likely to be members of an Evangelical community rather than of the mainstream Catholic Church.