Religiosity as a determinant of happiness

Erich Gundlach and Matthias Opfinger

No 2012-06, Research Papers in Economics from University of Trier, Department of Economics

Abstract: The empirical relation between happiness and religiosity is considered from the perspective of basic utility theory. An unbalanced cross-country panel data set is used to study whether religiosity can be considered as a substitute in the happiness function, which itself is held to be a proxy for the utility function. We find that the same level of happiness can be maintained with high and low levels of religiosity due to substitution along a standard indifference curve. Our empirical results are consistent with three stylized facts of the empirical literature, namely a positive correlation between happiness and religiosity, a positive correlation between happiness and income, and a negative correlation between religiosity and income.

Keywords: Happiness; religiosity; utility function; long-run development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I31 O11 Z12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 pages
Date: 2012
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hap
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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http://www.uni-trier.de/fileadmin/fb4/prof/VWL/EWF/Research_Papers/2012-06.pdf First version, 2012 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Religiosity as a determinant of happiness (2011)
Working Paper: Religiosity as a determinant of happiness (2011)
Working Paper: Religiosity as a determinant of happiness (2011)
Working Paper: Religiosity as a determinant of happiness (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:trr:wpaper:201206

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