Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/145774 
Title: 

When Debt spells Sin: Does Religiosity guard against Over-Indebtedness?

The document was removed on behalf of the author(s)/ the editor(s).

Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
Beiträge zur Jahrestagung des Vereins für Socialpolitik 2016: Demographischer Wandel - Session: Borrowing and Debt No. D06-V1
Publisher: 
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft, Kiel und Hamburg
Abstract: 
Over-indebtedness of individuals is attributed to unemployment, low education, financial illiteracy or age. We emphasize an additional determining factor: attitudes towards debt formed by religious beliefs. For Christians, debt is associated closely with guilt and sin yielding a negative "preconceived opinion" on debt. Yet, contrary to Catholicism, Protestant history and writings indicate also elements of a positive attitude towards debt. We hence test the effect of religious denomination on over-indebtedness using county-level data for Germany. To approach endogeneity, we apply the distance to important churches (Cathedrals, Dome, Münster) and historical events as instruments for a counties' percentage of Catholics and Protestants. We find that more widespread Catholicism in an area indeed leads to a lower share of over-indebted persons.
JEL: 
D12
G11
Z12
Document Type: 
Conference Paper

Files in This Item:
The document was removed on behalf of the author(s)/ the editor(s) on: October 26, 2017


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