Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/71629 
Year of Publication: 
2013
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 7259
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper examines the economic origins of the Islamic revival that took place in Egypt in the 1970-80s, and in Muslim societies more generally. We provide the first systematic evidence of a decline in social mobility among educated youth in Egypt. Developing a behavioral model of religion, we then characterize conditions under which a temporary decline in social mobility produces a large and long-lasting rise in religious participation. Religion in our model helps to cope with loss, which occurs when one's consumption falls below an expectations-based reference point. The model provides an explanation for why the educated middle class were in the vanguard of the Islamic revival. Rather than undermining religious belief and participation, our analysis suggests that economic development can make societies more prone to religious revivals.
Subjects: 
Islamic revival
education
social mobility
inequality
social movements
Egypt
JEL: 
D10
D63
I24
J24
J62
O10
Z12
Z13
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





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