Religious participation and children's education : a social capital approach

Document Type

Journal article

Source Publication

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization

Publication Date

2-1-2008

Volume

65

Issue

2

First Page

303

Last Page

317

Publisher

Elsevier BV

Keywords

Religious participation, Human capital, Social capital

Abstract

Based on the argument in both economic and sociological literature that religion is conducive to children’s human capital formation, this paper provides a model of religious participation and explores a mechanism that “social capital” affects children’s education, a la Coleman [Coleman, J.S., 1988. Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology 94, S95–S120]. The model generates several interesting implications, which help explain some important stylized facts about education and religion. Further, in a dynamic setting, the model shows that there exists a steady state in which individuals allocate a positive amount of time and resources to religious activities. Thus, it complements the existing literature to explain why seemingly unproductive religions can be everlasting.

DOI

10.1016/j.jebo.2005.11.002

Print ISSN

01672681

Publisher Statement

Copyright © 2006 Elsevier B.V

Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.

Full-text Version

Publisher’s Version

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Fan, C. S. (2008). Religious participation and children's education: A social capital approach. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 65(2), 303-317. doi: 10.1016/j.jebo.2005.11.002

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