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Does religiosity promote property rights and the rule of law?

Author

Listed:
  • BERGGREN, NICLAS
  • BJØRNSKOV, CHRISTIAN

Abstract

Social and cultural determinants of economic institutions and outcomes have come to the forefront of economic research. We introduce religiosity, measured as the share for which religion is important in daily life, to explain institutional quality in the form of property rights and the rule of law. Previous studies have only measured the impact of membership shares of different religions, with mixed results. We find, in a cross-country regression analysis comprising up to 112 countries, that religiosity is negatively related to our institutional outcome variables. This only holds in democracies (not autocracies), which suggests that religiosity affects the way institutions work through the political process. Individual religions are not related to our measures of institutional quality.

Suggested Citation

  • Berggren, Niclas & Bjørnskov, Christian, 2013. "Does religiosity promote property rights and the rule of law?," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(2), pages 161-185, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jinsec:v:9:y:2013:i:02:p:161-185_00
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Religion and the quality of public institutions
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2012-03-23 19:34:00
    2. Religion og udvikling
      by Christian Bjørnskov in Punditokraterne on 2013-11-08 15:47:08

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Niclas Berggren & Jerg Gutmann, 2020. "Securing personal freedom through institutions: the role of electoral democracy and judicial independence," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 165-186, April.
    2. Oasis Kodila-Tedika & Julius Agbor Agbor, 2014. "Religious Diversity and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: So Far So Good," Journal of African Development, African Finance and Economic Association (AFEA), vol. 16(1), pages 99-117.
    3. Niklas Potrafke, 2016. "Erratum to: Policies against human trafficking: the role of religion and political institutions," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 387-396, November.
    4. Xunan Feng & Zhi Jin & Anders C. Johansson, 2021. "How beliefs influence behaviour: Confucianism and innovation in China," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(3), pages 501-525, July.
    5. Arye L. Hillman & Niklas Potrafke, 2018. "Economic Freedom and Religion," Public Finance Review, , vol. 46(2), pages 249-275, March.
    6. Krieger, Tim & Meierrieks, Daniel, 2016. "Political capitalism: The interaction between income inequality, economic freedom and democracy," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 115-132.
    7. Arye L. Hillman & Niklas Potrafke, 2016. "Economic Freedom and Religion: An Empirical Investigation," CESifo Working Paper Series 6017, CESifo.
    8. de Wit, Juliette & Beugelsdijk, Sjoerd, 2024. "Reconciling the individual and societal level in comparative cultural analysis: An archetypal analysis of values and norms across 76 countries," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1483, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    9. Méon, Pierre-Guillaume & Sekkat, Khalid, 2022. "A time to throw stones, a time to reap: how long does it take for democratic transitions to improve institutional outcomes?," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(3), pages 429-443, June.
    10. Geng Niu & Yang Zhou & Weijie Lu & Hongwu Gan, 2022. "Religiosity and corruption in bank lending," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(9-10), pages 1957-1983, October.
    11. James Okrah & Alexander N. Nepp, 2023. "The Impact of Religious Traditions and Education Levels on Innovation Activity in Countries with Different Income Levels," Journal of Applied Economic Research, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Ural Federal University, vol. 22(2), pages 216-241.
    12. Pavol Minárik, 2013. "Ekonomie náboženství a její relevance pro ekonomy ve střední Evropě [Economics of Religion and its Relevance for Economists in Central Europe]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2013(5), pages 691-704.
    13. Pál Czeglédi, 2023. "Why is the West unique in linking religiosity to market friendliness?," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 73-88, February.
    14. Garett Jones & Niklas Potrafke, 2014. "Human Capital and National Institutional Quality: Are TIMSS, PISA, and National Average IQ Robust Predictors?," CESifo Working Paper Series 4790, CESifo.
    15. Aloys L. Prinz & Christian J. Sander, 2020. "Political leadership and the quality of public goods and services: Does religion matter?," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 299-334, December.
    16. repec:ejw:journl:v:11:y:2014:i:2:p:97-105 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Nyarko, Julian, 2019. "We’ll See You in . . . Court! The lack of arbitration clauses in international commercial contracts," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 6-24.
    18. Gutmann, Jerg & Voigt, Stefan, 2018. "The rule of law: Measurement and deep roots," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 68-82.
    19. Jerg Gutmann & Stefan Voigt, 2015. "The rule of law and constitutionalism in Muslim countries," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 162(3), pages 351-380, March.
    20. Abdelsalam, Omneya & Chantziaras, Antonios & Ibrahim, Masud & Omoteso, Kamil, 2021. "The impact of religiosity on earnings quality: International evidence from the banking sector," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(6).
    21. Moamen Gouda & Jerg Gutmann, 2021. "Islamic constitutions and religious minorities," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 186(3), pages 243-265, March.
    22. Dierk Herzer & Holger Strulik, 2020. "Religiosity and Long-Run Productivity Growth," Journal of Economics, Management and Religion (JEMAR), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 1(01), pages 1-40, July.
    23. Ludek Kouba & Hans Pitlik, 2014. "I wanna live my life: Locus of Control and Support for the Welfare State," MENDELU Working Papers in Business and Economics 2014-46, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    24. Hans Pitlik & Ludek Kouba, 2013. "The Interrelation of Informal Institutions and Governance Quality in Shaping Welfare State Attitudes. WWWforEurope Working Paper No. 38," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 46924, August.
    25. Rutar, Tibor, 2025. "Do large, sustained economic freedom reforms hurt or improve women's economic rights?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • K11 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Property Law
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion

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