Human Capital Accumulation and the Inter-Denominational Mobility of American Jews [Brickman]
Christine Brickman
Abstract: Despite the recent spate of research on religious and spiritual capital, scholars have yet to pay much attention to the distinction between general and specific capital. This distinction plays a central role in the economic theory of human capital, generating predictions concerning the type of training employers offer workers, and the impact of this training on both wages and labor market mobility. I apply these insights to religious markets and create testable propositions concerning the effect of these two types of capital on religious behavior and belonging. Drawing on data from the 2000 National Jewish Population Survey and 2000 National Survey of Religion and Ethnicity, I show why some individuals maintain low levels of participation despite having large quantities of specific religious capital. I also illustrate how larger stocks of capital increase switching to more traditional denominations within the Jewish “industry.” Finally, by understanding ethnicity as a type of specific capital, I explain the high retention rates that characterize religio-ethnic groups.
File:
Jewish_Mobility_Paper_-_Brickman2.doc [145.00KB]
File:
Jewish_Mobility_Paper_-_Brickman2.pdf [116.39KB]
Published 11/02/2007
Filed under: a:brickman, capital, conversion, education, general capital, jewish, njps, religious markets, s:asrec'07, specific capita, y:2007