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How does the economy affect a religious phenomenon? A panel approach to international pilgrimages to the Shrine of Fátima

Author

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  • Belucio Matheus

    (CEFAGE-UE, Department of Economics, University of Évora and Economy of Francesco (EoF) Academy)

  • Fuinhas José Alberto

    (Faculty of Economics, and Centre for Business and Economics Research (CeBER), University of Coimbra)

  • Vieira Carlos

    (CEFAGE-UE and Department of Economics, University of Évora)

Abstract

This paper investigates the economic determinants of Catholic pilgrimages to the Shrine of Fatima using a panel data set with annual observations from 2008 to 2017 from 29 origin countries. The Panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag, using the estimator of Driscoll and Kraay (1998), was employed to examine short- and long-run impacts. The results reveal that, in the short run, GDP per capita, the exchange rate and overall international departures positively impact the number of pilgrims. In the long run, international departures and GDP per capita cause positive impacts, while unemployment shows a negative impact. All effects are statistically significant. Besides shedding light on the relationship between economic determinants and religious phenomena, this paper is valuable to national and local policymakers, shrine managers and regional entrepreneurs. It is a tool for everyone who must be aware of the main determinants of the number of pilgrims, to plan joint measures that may generate more significant opportunities to attract pilgrims, crucial to supporting the local economy and in addition to being an important contribution to the economics of religion literature, indicating contemporary impacts on a religious phenomenon.

Suggested Citation

  • Belucio Matheus & Fuinhas José Alberto & Vieira Carlos, 2023. "How does the economy affect a religious phenomenon? A panel approach to international pilgrimages to the Shrine of Fátima," European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation, Sciendo, vol. 13(1), pages 110-124, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:ejothr:v:13:y:2023:i:1:p:110-124:n:3
    DOI: 10.2478/ejthr-2023-0010
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