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  5. Political Economy of Global Religions
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Political Economy of Global Religions

Paper Session

Friday, Jan. 3, 2025 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM (PST)

San Francisco Marriott Marquis, Foothill F
Hosted By: Association for Comparative Economic Studies
  • Chair: Felipe Valencia Caicedo, University of British Columbia

Peace Derailed: The Effects of India’s First Nonviolent Struggle on Mass Religious Violence

Rikhil Bhavnani
,
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Saumitra Jha
,
Stanford University

Abstract

In 1922-1923 South Asia experienced one of the first waves of mass civil religious violence in its history, including in many towns that had never before witnessed any religious riots. What led to these first breakdowns of historic inter-ethnic peace? In this paper, we provide evidence that this violence was an unfortunate side-effect of South Asia’s first mass movement aimed at non-violent civil obedience. We exploit a temporary exogenous shock to the incentives to mobilize non-violent protests in Indian towns due to the pre-planned 8,000 mile whistle-stop tour of Edward, the Prince of Wales in 1921-22. We compare towns that the Prince visited with counterfactual itineraries that he could have visited, and to those that his father had previously visited. We show that the Prince’s visit raised the propensity of a town to experience a non-violent protest by 29pp, and a subsequent religious riot by 23pp. Towns that protested because of the visit were 77pp more likely to then have a religious riot. We interpret these results as reflecting how the development of local organizational capacity, when combined with misaligned political incentives, can prove a grave threat to inter-ethnic peace.

Political Regulation of Social Norms: The Tradeoff between Religious Education & Support for Religious Parties

Jean-Paul Carvalho
,
University of Oxford
Avital Livny
,
University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign
Jared Rubin
,
Chapman University

Abstract

We explore the substitutability between religious education and politics. In a secular political environment, voting for religious candidates and religious education are positively related, as there is no way for the religious to express their identity via politics. The opposite is true in a religious political environment, where voting for religious candidates substitutes for (costly) religious education. We apply the theory to Turkey over the period 1987-2019. The empirical evidence supports the theory and provides further insights into the drivers of the religious identity-education tradeoff.

Urbanization and Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa

Marina Ngoma
,
World Bank
Nathan Nunn
,
University of British Columbia
Jonathan Weigel
,
University of California-Berkeley
Ciara Sievert
,
CERGE-EI

Abstract

Throughout the world, and particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, cities are the centers of innovation, entrepreneurship, social connections, and economic growth. This project seeks to provide causal evidence about the effects of access to cities in rural Africa on individuals' behaviors, beliefs, and economic wellbeing. We study the randomized rollout of a program increasing urban access in rural villages in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This `City Access Program' provides regular weekly transportation to the city of Kananga -- a city of about 1.7 million people -- to individuals living in rural villages surrounding the city. Focusing on the differentiating features of cities in our setting, one treatment arm provides weekly transportation directly to markets and encourages villagers to buy or sell goods there as they please. The second treatment arm provides weekly transportation to the city along with an invitation to attend a church group. The study compares the economic and psychosocial wellbeing of participants across each of the two treatment arms, as well as the control group. Thus, we gain an understanding of the effects of cities working through market integration and religious social networks.

Religion and Conflict: Evidence from China, 1860–1911

Yujing Huang
,
University of California-Los Angeles
Chicheng Ma
,
University of Hong Kong
Felipe Valencia Caicedo
,
University of British Columbia

Abstract

This paper examines the economic origins and impacts of religious conflicts in the context of late Qing China (1860–1911). While the literature has attributed the anti-missionary violence to the cultural clash between Confucianism and Christianity, we show that the missionaries’ economic contributions to China through the treaty ports and public goods provision, rather than the strength of Confucianism, significantly attenuated Chinese anti-missionary movements. We then assess the impacts of the anti-missionary episode on China’s economic development. We find that conflicts discouraged Western merchants from investing in China, evidenced by fewer modern industrial firms and banks. This negative effect also spilled over Chinese domestic modern growth till 1930. The consequences persisted to the present time with conservatism towards international trade, and consequently, fewer foreign investments in regions with more historical conflicts.
JEL Classifications
  • Z1 - Cultural Economics; Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology
  • N3 - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy