Does religion influence the household finance? Evidence from Europe

Rashed Ashqar and Júlio Lobão

Studies in Economics and Finance, 2023, vol. 41, issue 2, 286-311

Abstract: Purpose - This paper aims to examine the influence of religious backgrounds and religiosity on three dimensions of household finance (the decision to hold secured debt, the likelihood of being in a state of financial distress and the likelihood of being in a state of financial well-being) across a large sample of European countries. Design/methodology/approach - The study uses data from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) data set, spanning from 2004 to 2018. The authors conduct regression analysis to examine the relationship between religion and household financial choices. Findings - The study finds that belonging to a predominantly Catholic or Orthodox (Protestant) country is negatively (positively) associated with the likelihood of holding a mortgage. Belonging to a mostly Catholic (Protestant) country is negatively (positively) associated with the likelihood of being in a state of financial distress. Belonging to a predominantly Catholic (Protestant) country is positively (negatively) associated with the likelihood of being in a state of financial well-being. These relationships remain robust after controlling for a large number of demographic and economic variables. Originality/value - In this paper, the authors analyze for the first time the impact of religion on household finance in a wide range of European countries. It is also the first time that the EU-SILC database, which aggregates data on more than three million European households, is used for the study of this topic.

Keywords: Household finance; Religion; Religiosity; Mortgages; Financial distress; Financial well-being; Europe; G40; G50; G51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:sefpps:sef-02-2022-0107

DOI: 10.1108/SEF-02-2022-0107

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