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A Theory of Congregational Giving

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  • JONATHAN ROSBOROUGH

Abstract

This paper proposes a model to explain a broad range of established empirical facts about giving and attendance rates in religious congregations. We treat the religious service collectively consumed by the congregation as a “participatory” public good, in the sense that while its quality increases in contributions, individual consumption varies by the amount of time devoted toward attendance. The model predicts that lower income individuals will be overrepresented in religious congregations, with giving concentrated among higher income members. Inclusive doctrine is shown to increase membership but reduce average giving and attendance, while “tithing” requirements reduce membership and increase total giving.

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  • Jonathan Rosborough, 2015. "A Theory of Congregational Giving," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 17(2), pages 270-295, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jpbect:v:17:y:2015:i:2:p:270-295
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/jpet.12106
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Laurence R. Iannaccone, 1998. "Introduction to the Economics of Religion," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(3), pages 1465-1495, September.
    2. Sullivan, Dennis H, 1985. "Simultaneous Determination of Church Contributions and Church Attendance," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 23(2), pages 309-320, April.
    3. Cornes, Richard & Sandler, Todd, 1984. "Easy Riders, Joint Production, and Public Goods," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 94(375), pages 580-598, September.
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    5. Lipford, Jody W. & Tollison, Robert D., 2003. "Religious participation and income," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 249-260, June.
    6. 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.
    7. Bergstrom, Theodore & Blume, Lawrence & Varian, Hal, 1986. "On the private provision of public goods," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 25-49, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ida Ferrara & Paul Missios, 2020. "Trust, ability‐to‐pay, and charitable giving," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 22(3), pages 583-629, June.

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