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Which Countries Have State Religions?

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Author Info
Robert J. Barro
Rachel M. McCleary

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Abstract

For 188 independent countries in 2000, 72 had no state religion in the years 2000, 1970, and 1900; 58 had a state religion at all three dates; and 58 had some kind of transition. Among the 58 transitional countries, 12 had two transitions, 4 of which (former Soviet Republics in Asia) involved two forms of state religion. The probability of having a state religion in 2000 or 1970 depends strongly on the status of state religion in 1900 but much more so for countries that experienced no major change in political regime during the 20th century. Communist governments tend not to have state religion only one Communist country (Somalia in 1970) had a state religion in the usual sense. However, a past history of Communism does not have much influence on the probability of state religion. Greater concentration of religious adherence is positively related to state religion, and most of this relation seems to reflect causation from religious concentration to state religion, rather than the reverse. Theoretically, state religion is more probable when the population adheres to a monotheistic religion. We find this effect for Muslim adherence, but the relationship is not robust. State religion is less likely in sub-Saharan Africa, possibly because of the intense competition for converts in this region among the major world religions. The probability of state religion does not differ significantly between former colonies and non-colonies but is higher for British colonies than for Spanish and Portuguese colonies. Variables that have little effect on the probability of state religion include per capita GDP, country size, and the extent of democracy, civil liberties, and the rule of law.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 10438.

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Date of creation: Apr 2004
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:10438

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O1 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics

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  3. Robert Barro & Rachel M. McCleary, 2003. "International Determinants of Religiosity," NBER Working Papers 10147, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. West, Martin R. & Woessmann, Ludger, 2008. ""Every Catholic Child in a Catholic School": Historical Resistance to State Schooling, Contemporary Private Competition, and Student Achievement across Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 3818, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  3. Papaioannou, Elias & Siourounis, Gregorios, 2008. "Economic and Social Factors Driving the Third Wave of Democratization," CEPR Discussion Papers 6986, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Jonathan Gruber & Daniel M. Hungerman, 2006. "The Church vs the Mall: What Happens When Religion Faces Increased Secular Competition?," NBER Working Papers 12410, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Alberto Alesina & Nichola Fuchs Schuendeln, 2005. "Good bye Lenin (or not?): The Effect of Communism on People's Preferences," NBER Working Papers 11700, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Casey B. Mulligan & Ricard Gil & Xavier Sala-i-Martin, 2004. "Do Democracies Have Different Public Policies than Nondemocracies?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 18(1), pages 51-74, Winter. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Murat Iyigun, 2006. "Ottoman Conquests and European Ecclesiastical Pluralism," IZA Discussion Papers 1973, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  8. Pablo Brañas-Garza & Angel Solano, 2007. "Why Do European Governments Favor Religion?," Papers on Economics of Religion 07/01, Department of Economic Theory and Economic History of the University of Granada.. [Downloadable!]
  9. Robert I. Mochrie & John W. Sawkins & Alexander Naumov, 2006. "Competition and Participation in Religious Markets: Evidence from Victorian Scotland," Working Papers E01, Department of Economics, School of Management and Languages, Heriot Watt University. [Downloadable!]
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  10. Iyigun, Murat, 2008. "Lessons from the Ottoman Harem (On Ethnicity, Religion and War)," IZA Discussion Papers 3556, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  11. C. Reggiani & G. Rossini, 2008. "Religious Attitudes and Home Bias," Working Papers 632, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna. [Downloadable!]
  12. Ying , Fang & Yang , Zhao, 2009. "Do institutions matter? Estimating the effect of institutions on economic performance in China," BOFIT Discussion Papers 9/2009, Bank of Finland, Institute for Economies in Transition. [Downloadable!]
  13. Robert J. Barro & Jason Hwang, 2007. "Religious Conversion in 40 Countries," NBER Working Papers 13689, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Francisco Gallego & Robert Woodberry, 2008. "Christian Missionaries and Education in Former Colonies: How Institutions Mattered," Documentos de Trabajo 339, Instituto de Economía. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.. [Downloadable!]
  15. C. Reggiani & G. Rossini, 2006. "Home Bias among European Students," Working Papers 579, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna. [Downloadable!]
  16. Becker, Sascha O. & Wößmann, Ludger, 2007. "Was Weber Wrong? A Human Capital Theory of Protestant Economic History," Discussion Papers in Economics 1366, University of Munich, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  17. Murat Iyigun, 2007. "Monotheism (From a Sociopolitical and Economic Perspective)," IZA Discussion Papers 3116, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  18. Arye Hillman, 2007. "Economic and security consequences of supreme values," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 131(3), pages 259-280, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Benedikt Goderis & Mila Versteeg, 2009. "Human Rights Violations after 9/11 and the Role of Constitutional Constraints," Economics Series Working Papers 425, University of Oxford, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  20. Hendrik P. van Dalen & Mieke Reuser, 2005. "What Drives Donor Funding in Population Assistance Programs?," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 05-062/1, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
  21. Graziella Bertocchi & Chiara Strozzi, 2005. "Citizenship Laws and International Migration in Historical Perspective," Working Papers 2005.71, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei. [Downloadable!]
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