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Deus Economicus

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  • Oslington, Paul

Abstract

In recent years there has been an upsurge of interest in religion among economists, but the content of religion has so far been neglected . This paper builds a rational choice model of divine action, in particular of the structure of the divine offer of salvation and rational human response. It considers why God might not save everyone, the pattern of salvation across individuals with different preferences and endowments, and the way religious conversion and revivals are often large and sudden changes. Rational choice analysis to divine human interactions is a contribution to the renewal interdisciplinary conversation between economists and religion scholars.

Suggested Citation

  • Oslington, Paul, 2005. "Deus Economicus," MPRA Paper 962, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:962
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    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/962/1/MPRA_paper_962.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert B. Ekelund, Jr. & Robert F. Hebert & Robert D. Tollison, 2002. "An Economic Analysis of the Protestant Reformation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(3), pages 646-671, June.
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    4. Azzi, Corry & Ehrenberg, Ronald G, 1975. "Household Allocation of Time and Church Attendance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 83(1), pages 27-56, February.
    5. Paul Oslington (ed.), 2003. "Economics and Religion," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, volume 0, number 2564.
    6. Robert W. Fogel, 1999. "Catching Up with the Economy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(1), pages 1-21, March.
    7. Iannaccone, Laurence R, 1992. "Sacrifice and Stigma: Reducing Free-Riding in Cults, Communes, and Other Collectives," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(2), pages 271-291, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mario Ferrero & George Tridimas, 2018. "Divine Competition in Greco–Roman Polytheism," Homo Oeconomicus: Journal of Behavioral and Institutional Economics, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 143-166, September.
    2. Atin Basuchoudhary & Mario Ferrero & Timothy Lubin, 2020. "The Political Economy of Polytheism: the Indian Versus the Greco-Roman Religions," Homo Oeconomicus: Journal of Behavioral and Institutional Economics, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 183-211, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Rational Choice; Economics of Religion; Divine Action;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion

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