Written Rules: Religion

Lester Hadsell ()
Additional contact information
Lester Hadsell: University at Albany, State University of New York, Department of Economics

Chapter 16 in Social Economies, 2026, pp 249-263 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract The second chapter in Part III of Social Economics focuses on how religion shapes individual and societal choices and possibilities in economic contexts. Sunday baseball (once banned) and Chick-fil-A (closed on Sunday to observe the Sabbath) are examples. So, too, are findings that belief in Hell is correlated with economic growth and that religiosity is associated with more favorable attitudes toward free markets. In multi-country surveys, more religious individuals tend to work more hours, be more trusting, and save more. Religion has important effects on cultural norms which restrain the worst vices of capitalism while at the same time often promoting its best aspects. Religion appears to limit corporate incidents of financial reporting irregularities, shareholder lawsuits, and management compensation packages (with more generous worker pay). Religious emphasis on thrift and careful investment promotes formation of physical capital. Human capital is encouraged through education. And, as a social endeavor, religion enhances community, particularly bonding social capital (as described in Chapter 19 ). Given the economically relevant influence of religion, the high levels of religiosity in the U.S. and its recent sharp decline foreshadow important implications for the U.S. economy.

Keywords: Religion; Christianity; Mormon; Blue laws; Physical capital; Human capital; Protestant work ethic; Hell; Social norms; Trust; Honesty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-032-21916-9_16

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783032219169

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-21916-9_16

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Books from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().