Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/46138 
Year of Publication: 
2010
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 5198
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
In this paper, we first explore how an exogenous increase in the opportunity cost of religious participation affects individuals' religious participation and reported happiness using data from the General Social Survey. The exogenous shift in the cost of religious participation is a result of repealing of so-called blue laws which restrict retail activity on Sundays. We find that repealing blue laws causes a significant decline in the level of religious participation of white women and in their happiness. We do not observe any significant decline in reported happiness of other groups whose religious participation was not significantly affected by repeal. We also use repeal as an instrumental variable (IV) for church attendance and provide direct evidence that church attendance has a significant positive effect on happiness, especially for women.
Subjects: 
religious participation
happiness
blue laws
JEL: 
K10
J16
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
253.98 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.