Religious capital and religious rewards: A study in the economics of religious life

In: Panoeconomicus: naučno-stručni časopis Saveza Ekonomista Vojvodine ; scientific-professional journal of Economists' Association of Vojvodina, Band 59, Heft 1, S. 117-127

Abstract

Religious life is studied by way suggested by the rational choice theory and
the religious capital theory. The basic contentions of the theory on the
nature of religious life having to do with an exchange upon a religious
market, by firms offering compensators and rewards, and consumers, is
considered. In the empirical analysis, it was validated that the independent
(religious capital) and dependent (religious rewards of two types) were
empirically separate constructs. Cross-sectional analysis of survey data
indicated a very strong association between religious capital and
institutional and ritual experience rewards within religious life, at a
cross-cultural analysis, including Bosnian Muslims, Serbian Orthodox,
Slovenian Catholics and US Protestants. The association was confirmed as
robust at regression inspection with religious socialization. This extends
further support for the empirical validity these novel theories of religious
life and extensions of economic analysis into religious life.