RANDOMIZING RELIGION: THE IMPACT OF PROTESTANT EVANGELISM ON ECONOMIC OUTCOMES

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bryan, Gharad; Choi, James J.; Karlan, Dean
• 署名单位: University of London; London School Economics & Political Science; Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK; Yale University; National Bureau of Economic Research; Northwestern University
• 刊物名称: QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-5533
• DOI: 10.1093/qje/qjaa023
• 发表日期: 2021
• 页码: 293-380
• 关键词: false discovery rate; optimism; orientation; REEVALUATION; population; hypothesis; IDENTITY; BEHAVIOR; german; scale

摘要

We study the causal impact of religiosity through a randomized evaluation of an evangelical Protestant Christian values and theology education program delivered to thousands of ultrapoor Filipino households. Six months after the program ended, treated households have higher religiosity and income; no statistically significant differences in total labor supply, consumption, food security, or life satisfaction; and lower perceived relative economic status. Exploratory analysis suggests that the income treatment effect may operate through increasing grit. Thirty months after the program ended, significant differences in the intensity of religiosity disappear, but those in the treatment group are less likely to be Catholic and more likely to be Protestant, and there is some mixed evidence that their consumption and perceived relative economic status are higher.