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Strategic behavior and organizational structure in religions
Wittman, Donald A. - 2012
the context of the small (religious institutions). --religious organizations ; autocracy ; age ; organizational structure …Religions are organized in a variety of ways. They may resemble an elected autocracy, a parliamentary democracy, or … institutionalized and when the age of a person may be an important strategic factor in choosing a leader. I am thus able to explain what …
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10009629015
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Autocracy and the public : mass revolts, winning coalitions, and policy control in dictatorships
Apolte, Thomas - 2015
Threats of mass revolts could effectively constrain a dictator's public policy if it were not for the collective-action problem. Mass revolts nevertheless happen, but they follow a stochastic pattern. We describe this pattern in a threshold model of collective action and integrate it into an...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10011336491
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Understanding the development of fundamentalism
Epstein, Gil S.; Gang, Ira N. - 2002
Fundamentalist organizations and the terrorists they spawn do not arise of a vacuum. Combating terrorism requires understanding the principles of groups’ formation, development and growth. We use economic theory to explain the creation and development of fundamentalist groups. In this paper we...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10010318337
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The political economy of Kosher Wars
Epstein, Gil S.; Gang, Ira N. - 2002
In this paper we develop a theory of “Kosher Wars” under which Rabbis (certifying authorities) compete to enhance the level of Jewish observation of their congregations. The level of observance can be seen as the Rabbi’s rents. Our rent-seeking model explains the establishment...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10010318373
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Understanding the Development of Fundamentalism
Gang, Ira N.; Epstein, Gil S. - 2004
We use economic theory to examine the intensity of fundamentalist sects. Leaders work to enhance their followers? observance level. We model three stylized situations under which fundamentalist groups function, examining the intensity of observance in each. We find that, under reasonable...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10010261982
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Religious Origins of Democracies and Dictatorships
Grigoriadis, Theocharis - 2013
In this paper, I argue that religion matters for the emergence of democracies and dictatorships. Religion is defined as demand for public goods. Different types of religious collectives reflect different tradeoffs between centralized resource distribution and market rewards. Religions are...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10014158043
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Render Unto Caesar : Taxes, Charity, and Political Islam
Fourati, Maleke - 2017
Data from the first post-Arab Spring elections reveal that support for Islamic parties came from richer districts and individuals. We show that standard public finance arguments help explain the voting pattern in these elections and others in the Muslim world. Our model predicts that a voter's...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012968939
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Should Governments Tax the Rich and Subsidize the Poor? A Comparative Study of Muslim and Christian Respondents
McGee, Robert W.; Benk, Serkan; Yuzbasi, Bahadir - 2019
This study used the most recent World Values Survey dataset to determine whether Christian and Muslim views on the acceptability of taxing the rich and subsidizing the poor was an essential feature of democracy. The sample size included more than 23,000 individuals from more than 50 countries....
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10014033077
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A Political Theory of Russian Orthodoxy : Evidence from Public Goods Experiments
Grigoriadis, Theocharis - 2013
In this paper, I test the effects of religious norms on the provision of public goods. My evidence is drawn from public goods experiments that I ran with regional bureaucrats in Tomsk and Novosibirsk, Russia. I introduce three treatments, which I define as degrees of Eastern Orthodox...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10013081362
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The power of religious organizations in human decision processes : analyzing voting behavior ; conference paper
Torgler, Benno; Stadelmann, David; Portmann, Marco - 2014
In Switzerland, two key church institutions the Conference of Swiss Bishops (CSB) and the Federation of Protestant Churches (FPC) make public recommendations on how to vote for certain referenda. We leverage this unique situation to directly measure religious organizations power to shape human...
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10010487277