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Church Membership and Social Insurance: Evidence from the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927

Author

Listed:
  • Ager, Philipp

    (Department of Business and Economics)

  • Hansen, Casper Worm

    (Department of Economics)

  • Lønstrup, Lars

    (Department of Business and Economics)

Abstract

Religious communities are key providers of social insurance. This paper focuses on the devastating impact of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 to investigate how an increase in the demand for social insurance affects church membership. We find a significant increase in church membership in flooded counties. This effect is stronger in counties with severe economic losses and where access to credit was limited. We also document that fundamental denominations gained more members in flooded counties, which is consistent with the theory of club goods emphasizing the efficient provision of mutual insurance in stricter religious communities.

Suggested Citation

  • Ager, Philipp & Hansen, Casper Worm & Lønstrup, Lars, 2016. "Church Membership and Social Insurance: Evidence from the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927," Discussion Papers on Economics 7/2016, University of Southern Denmark, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:sdueko:2016_007
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    File URL: http://www.sdu.dk/-/media/files/om_sdu/institutter/ivoe/disc_papers/disc_2016/dpbe7_2016.pdf?la=da
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Silveus, Neil & Stoddard, Christiana, 2020. "Identifying the causal effect of income on religiosity using the Earned Income Tax Credit," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 903-924.
    2. Bentzen, Jeanet Sinding, 2021. "In crisis, we pray: Religiosity and the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 541-583.
    3. Ager, Philipp & Hansen, Casper Worm & Lønstrup, Lars, 2018. "Shaking Up the Equilibrium: Natural Disasters, Economic Activity, and Immigration," Discussion Papers on Economics 2/2018, University of Southern Denmark, Department of Economics.
    4. Ferrara, Andreas & Testa, Patrick A., 2020. "Resource Blessing? Oil, Risk, and Religious Communities as Social Insurance in the U.S. South," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 513, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Religion; Informal insurance; Club goods; Natural disasters;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D70 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - General
    • H40 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - General
    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion

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