Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/18877 
Year of Publication: 
2004
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 1238
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
Religious participation is much more widespread in the United States than in Europe, while Europeans tend to view sects more suspiciously than Americans. We propose an explanation for these patterns without assuming differences in preferences or market fundamentals. Religious markets may have multiple equilibria, suggesting that observed differences in religious structures may merely be eventualities. Further, equilibria with more sects result in higher welfare and lower membership costs, as secular societies tend to host on average more demanding sects. Our main methodological contribution to the theory of religious markets is endogenizing simultaneously supply and demand of spiritual services.
Subjects: 
sects
religion
tithes
religious markets
JEL: 
D71
J24
L89
Z12
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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