Advances in the Economics of Religion

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxvii

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2. Introduction

   • Jean-Paul Carvalho, Sriya Iyer, Jared Rubin

   Pages 1-21

3. Theoretical Advances in the Economics of Religion

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 23-23

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   2. Religious Clubs: The Strategic Role of Religious Identity

      • Jean-Paul Carvalho

      Pages 25-41

   3. Spatial Models of Religious Market Competition: A Critical Assessment

      • Michael McBride

      Pages 43-59

   4. When Average Is Irrelevant: Computational Modeling of Religious Groups

      • Michael D. Makowsky

      Pages 61-72

   5. The Intelligent Design of Religious Beliefs

      • Gilat Levy

      Pages 73-88

   6. Religion and Segregation

      • Ronny Razin

      Pages 89-101

   7. Religious and Cultural Leaders

      • Anja Prummer

      Pages 103-117

   8. Intermediated Social Preferences: Altruism in an Algorithmic Era

      • Daniel L. Chen

      Pages 119-138

4. Empirical Advances in the Economics of Religion

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 139-139

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   2. Religion and Demography

      • Sriya Iyer

      Pages 141-153

   3. Economics and Church State Research: Past, Present, Future

      • Daniel Hungerman, Timothy Weninger

      Pages 155-168

   4. Protestants and Catholics and Educational Investment in Guatemala

      • Rachel M. McCleary, Robert J. Barro

      Pages 169-195

   5. The Religious Factor in Private Education in the United States

      • Danny Cohen-Zada, Moshe Justman

      Pages 197-213

   6. How Luther’s Quest for Education Changed German Economic History: 9+5 Theses on the Effects of the Protestant Reformation

      • Sascha O. Becker, Ludger Woessmann

      Pages 215-227

   7. Hindu-Muslim Violence in India: A Postscript from the Twenty-First Century

      • Anirban Mitra, Debraj Ray

      Pages 229-248

   8. Religion and Conflict: A Quantitative Approach

      • José G. Montalvo, Marta Reynal-Querol

      Pages 249-263

   9. Why Are Some Societies More Religious Than Others?

      • Jeanet Sinding Bentzen

      Pages 265-281

   10. Socioeconomic Inequality Across Religious Groups: Self-Selection or Religion-Induced Human Capital Accumulation? The Case of Egypt

       • Mohamed Saleh

       Pages 283-294

This edited collection brings together expertise from around the globe to overview and debate key concepts and concerns in the economics of religion. While the economics of religion is a relatively new field of research in economics, economists have made and continue to make important contributions to the understanding of religion. There is much scope for economists to continue to make a significant contribution to debates about religion, including its implications for conflict, political economy, public goods, demography, education, finance, trade and economic growth. 

• Economics of Religion
• Religious Identity
• Religious Market Competition
• Religious Beliefs
• Religion and Segregation
• Religion and Demography
• Church State Research
• Protestant Reformation
• Religion and Conflict
• Socioeconomic Inequality
• Religion-Induced Human Capital Accumulation
• Religious Legitimacy
• State and Religion
• Political Economy of Religion
• Religious Freedom
• Religiosity and Economic Performance
• Monotheism
• religion and society

• University of California, Irvine, Irvine, USA

  Jean-Paul Carvalho

• Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

  Sriya Iyer

• Chapman University, Orange, USA

  Jared Rubin

Jean-Paul Carvalho is Associate Professor of Economics at the University of California, Irvine, USA.


Sriya Iyer is Janeway Fellow in Economics and Affiliated Lecturer, University of Cambridge, UK; and Bibby Fellow and College Lecturer, St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge. She is the author of The Economics of Religion in India (Harvard University Press, 2018) and Demography and Religion in India (Oxford University Press, 2002).


Jared Rubin is Associate Professor of Economics at the George L. Argyros School of Business and Economics in Chapman University, USA. He is author of Rulers, Religion, and Riches: Why the West Got Rich and the Middle East Did Not (Cambridge University Press, 2017).

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