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Liberté, égalité... religiosité

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  • Esteban, Joan
  • Levy, Gilat
  • Mayoral, Laura

Abstract

We study the effect of religiosity on the political choices over redistribution and the legal restrictions on personal liberties. We assume that the more religious an individual is, (i) the less he enjoys the use of liberties prohibited by his religion; and (ii) the higher the negative externality experienced when others practice those liberties. We show that legal restrictions on liberties has an impact on income inequality. We find that when the religious cleavage in society is large, high intolerance due to negative externalities leads to a political outcome consisting of repression of liberties and relatively low taxes.

Suggested Citation

  • Esteban, Joan & Levy, Gilat & Mayoral, Laura, 2018. "Liberté, égalité... religiosité," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 87659, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:87659
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    Cited by:

    1. Esteban, Joan & Levy, Gilat & Mayoral, Laura, 2019. "Personal liberties, religiosity, and effort," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    2. Rudolf, Robert & Wang, Shun & Wu, Fengyu, 2023. "The Arab Spring, a setback for gender equality? Evidence from the Gallup World Poll," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    religiosity; redistribution; individual liberties; political economy.; SES 1629370;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics

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