Iannaccone: Economics of Religion

These days, I am writing a position paper in the Academic Writing course, where I try to show through a case-study of the Waco tragedy that the rational-choice approach carries the most explanatory power in explaining religious behavior. The field of economics of religions is a recent product of the Chicago School's economic imperialism. Laurence R. Iannaccone, whose thesis was supervised by (guess who?) Gary S. Becker is a pioneer of this field. He is working now at George Mason University. Here is the link: Association for
the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture.

Iannaccone's "Formal Model of Church and Sect" present a model where a church and a sect are analytically defined. A church is characterized by low commitment and low spiritual benefits, the sect asks high commitment and provides high benefits. This distinction can be extended to other social groups. Provides mathematical definition of what a sect is and the rationale for this kind of religious firm. Iannaccone also shows that theoretical consequences of a sectarian orientation include strict behavioral standards, definite conversions, resistance to social change, high levels of religious participation, and lower-class and minority appeal. As all of the Chicago School efforts, it is difficult to accept, because it challanges common attitudes about the studied phenomena. However, this story fits the reality amazingly well.

"Sacrifice and Stigma: Reducing Free-Riding in Cults, Communes, and Other Collectives." is another Iannaccone's article worth mentioning. According to the author, bizzare behavior standards are a tax on alternatives to sect participation (that is, consumption of secular commodities). These measures serve to screen out people, whose participation would be low and at the same time increase participation of those who remain. Thus, efficient religions benefit from stigma, self-sacrifice and strange behavioral restrictions. This rationality can easy be extended to other social goups as well.