Deregulating Religion: The Economics of Church and State [Finke, Iannaccone, Stark]
Laurence R. Iannaccone
Santa Clara University
Roger Finke
Purdue University
Rodney Stark
University of Washington
Economic Inquiry
Western Economic Association International
Traditional religious research fails to recognize religion as a market phenomenon. It especially overlooks supply-side factors that shape the incentives and opportunities of religious firms, emphasizing instead demand-side shifts in the perceptions, tastes, and needs of consumers. This paper reviews the effects of government actions that alter religious supply. Our examples demonstrate that simple deregulation lies at the root of major religious trends and that the vitality of a religious market depends critically upon its competitiveness. (JEL: L51)
File: Iannaccone - Deregulating Religion.pdf [1.57MB]
Published 04/01/1997
Filed under: (1997), *finke, *iannaccone, *stark, @asrec'07, competition, deregulation, monopoly, religious firms, religious markets