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Religion and earnings: Is it good to be an atheist with religious parental background?

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  • Cornelissen, Thomas
  • Jirjahn, Uwe

Abstract

Using German employee data, we find that being raised by two religious parents and having no current religious affiliation is associated with higher earnings. This conforms to the hypothesis that people who are raised religiously and reject religion as adults are economically more successful as they combine a strong internalized work ethic with an increased interest in present consumption (as opposed to afterlife consumption).

Suggested Citation

  • Cornelissen, Thomas & Jirjahn, Uwe, 2012. "Religion and earnings: Is it good to be an atheist with religious parental background?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 117(3), pages 905-908.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:117:y:2012:i:3:p:905-908
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2012.07.013
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Cornelissen, Thomas & Jirjahn, Uwe, 2012. "September 11th and the earnings of Muslims in Germany—The moderating role of education and firm size," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 490-504.
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    7. 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.
    8. Todd P. Steen, 2004. "The relationship between religion and earnings: recent evidence from the NLS Youth Cohort," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 31(5/6), pages 572-581, May.
    9. Bettendorf, L. & Dijkgraaf, E., 2010. "Religion and income: Heterogeneity between countries," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 74(1-2), pages 12-29, May.
    10. Tomes, Nigel, 1985. "Religion and the Earnings Function," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(2), pages 245-250, May.
    11. Nigel Tomes, 1984. "The Effects of Religion and Denomination on Earnings and the Returns to Human Capital," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 19(4), pages 472-488.
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    Cited by:

    1. Lydia Maidl & Ann-Kathrin Seemann & Eckhard Frick & Harald Gündel & Piret Paal, 2022. "Leveraging Spirituality and Religion in European For-profit-organizations: a Systematic Review," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 23-53, April.
    2. Bruna BRUNO & Damiano FIORILLO, 2016. "Voluntary Work And Wages," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 87(2), pages 175-202, December.
    3. Bruno, Bruna & Fiorillo, Damiano, 2013. "Voluntary work and labour income," MPRA Paper 43995, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Parents’ religion; Current religious affiliation; Earnings;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A13 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Social Values
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion

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