The Role of Religion in Economic and Demographic Behavior in the United States: A Review of the Recent Literature

24 Pages Posted: 16 Jun 2008

See all articles by Evelyn L. Lehrer

Evelyn L. Lehrer

University of Illinois at Chicago - Department of Economics; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Abstract

This paper presents a critical review and synthesis of recent research on the role of religion in economic and demographic behavior in the United States. Relationships reviewed include the effects of religion on investments in human capital, labor supply and wealth accumulation; union formation and dissolution; and fertility. The paper also comments on the growing literature on the implications of religious dissimilarity between the spouses; on two different, possibly countervailing ways in which religiosity may affect demographic and economic behavior; and on the importance of estimating models that allow for possible non-linearities in the effects of religiosity.

Keywords: religion, marriage, divorce, education, fertility, female labor supply

JEL Classification: J1, J2

Suggested Citation

Lehrer, Evelyn L., The Role of Religion in Economic and Demographic Behavior in the United States: A Review of the Recent Literature. IZA Discussion Paper No. 3541, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1145920 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1145920

Evelyn L. Lehrer (Contact Author)

University of Illinois at Chicago - Department of Economics ( email )

725 University Hall (UH)
Chicago, IL 60607-7121
United States

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
306
Abstract Views
2,038
Rank
181,046
PlumX Metrics