Citation

Discussion Paper Details

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Title: The Power of Religion

Author(s): Jeanet Bentzen and Gunes Gokmen

Publication Date: May 2020

Keyword(s): democracy, Divine Legitimization, High Gods, Institutionalization of Religion, Persistence of Religion, religion, Religiosity, Religious Laws, Religious Legitimization and Stratification

Programme Area(s): Development Economics, Economic History, Macroeconomics and Growth and Public Economics

Abstract: Why does religion play a central role in some societies? Rulers have historically used religion to legitimize their power, which incentivized them to embed religion into institutions. This institutionalization of religion thus may explain why religion persists despite modernization. Using data across 1265 premodern societies and 176 countries, we provide evidence supporting divine legitimization and the resulting institutionalization of religion. For identification, we exploit exogenous variation in the incentives to employ religion for power purposes. We document two implications: countries that relied more on divine legitimization are more autocratic today and their populace more religious.

For full details and related downloads, please visit: https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=14706

Bibliographic Reference

Bentzen, J and Gokmen, G. 2020. 'The Power of Religion'. London, Centre for Economic Policy Research. https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=14706