Religion and Public Goods Provision: Experimental and Interview Evidence from Catholicism and Islam in Europe

Abstract

Religions such as Catholicism and Islam are generators of substantial amounts of charitable donations and volunteer work, and they sustain themselves as organizations. How do they produce charitable public goods and their own religious club goods when they are open to extensive free-riding? We argue that mainstream religions facilitate club and public goods provision by using their community structures and their theological belief systems to activate the pro-social, generous tendencies of their members. The study is based on in-field essay-prime experiments with over 800 Catholics and Muslims in Dublin and Istanbul and on case studybased interviews with over 200 Catholics and Muslims in Dublin, Istanbul, Milan and Paris. Our findings highlight the role of the religious concepts of duty to God, God's grace, and deservingness on adherents of the two religions, as well as religious community, though not in the way typically expected by rational choice theory. The evidence shows support for understanding individuals as being pro-social, not just strictly self-interested utility maximizers. Our argument about the role of beliefs and community help explain why mainstream religions can produce club and public goods despite their lack of strong monitoring and sanctioning mechanisms. The paper also demonstrates the advantages of using a methodology that combines field experiments with case study-based interviews.

Motivations to donate: Exploring the role of religiousness in charitable donations

“…They also consider their possession and wealth in this life as far less significant than the rewards they seek in the afterlife. We, therefore, confirm research findings reported by Kilnic & Warner (2015) and Warner et al, (2015). The Quran emphasizes the significance of life after death and, in particular, an individual's soul (or self) being held accountable for its performance during life on Earth.…”

“…Accordingly, Catholics consider helping others as part of a choice to live as God tells them to live: that is, following Jesus's example. On the contrary, Muslims believe that what they own in this world is temporary, that all resources are given by God to test believers and that they discharge a huge responsibility by transferring God's property to those in need (Warner et al, 2015).…”

Islam and Economic Performance: Historical and Contemporary Links

“…Research comparing motives for charity among Muslims and Catholics in several countries suggests that this preference, insofar as it exists, competes with various other motives. Warner et al (2015) show that the notion of "duty to God" triggers thoughts of charity among Muslims but not among Catholics. If God monitors everything, charity performed to please God need not be publicized; in fact, publicizing the act could be viewed as sullying the underlying motives.…”

Religiosity and cross‐country differences in trade credit use

“…Finally, consistent with Warner et al . () and Baele et al . (), customers adhering to Muslim and Hindu religions are willing to use trade credit .…”