A simulation study of how religious fundamentalism takes root

Jijian Fan, Daniel Friedman, Jonathan Gair, Sriya Iyer, Bartosz Redlicki and Chander Velu

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2021, vol. 192, issue C, 465-481

Abstract: Religious fundamentalism is observed across the world. We investigate its roots using agent-based simulations of religiosity dynamics in a spatially dispersed population. Agents’ religiosity responds to neighbors via direct interactions as well as via club goods effects. A simulation run is deemed fundamentalist if the final distribution contains a cohesive subset of agents with very high religiosity. We investigate whether such distributions are more prevalent when model parameters are shifted to reflect the transition from traditional societies to the modern world. The simulations suggest that the rise of fundamentalism in the modern world is aided by weaker attachment to the peer group, greater real income, and less compatibility between religious and secular goods, and arguably also by higher relative prices for secular goods and lower tolerance. Surprisingly, the current model suggests little role for the rise of long-distance communication and transportation.

Keywords: Fundamentalism; Club goods; Agent-based models (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D79 D85 H49 Z12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Working Paper: A Simulation Study of How Religious Fundamentalism Takes Root (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:192:y:2021:i:c:p:465-481

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2021.10.017

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