With 80% of the world's population profesing religious faith, religious belief is a common human characteristic. The sacred texts of each of the world's major religions exhort believers to live a righteous life, including responding to poverty and assisting those with less. This handbook...

"This book investigates how belief systems, political behavior, and public action impact the general populace, featuring theoretical concepts and empirical research across pertinent topic areas"--Provided by publisher.

Economic and political developments affect religiosity, and the extent of religious participation and beliefs influence economic performance and political institutions. We study these two directions of causation in a broad cross-country panel that includes survey information over the last 20...

Two important theories of religiosity are the secularization hypothesis and the religion-market model. According to the former theory, economic development reduces religious participation and beliefs. According to the latter theory, religiosity depends on the presence of a state religion,...

Two important theories of religiosity are the secularization hypothesis and the religion-market model. According to the former theory, economic development reduces religious participation and beliefs. According to the latter theory, religiosity depends on the presence of a state religion,...

Economic and political developments affect religiosity, and the extent of religious participation and beliefs influence economic performance and political institutions. We study these two directions of causation in a broad cross-country panel that includes survey information over the last 20...