Smith's Contributions to the Religious Market: Brazilian Religious Entrepreneurship Evidence

Abstract

Although market competition may sound unusual in a religious context, in recent years, Brazil has experienced a dynamic religious market characterized by increasing competitiveness among evangelical churches, mainly between the neo-Pentecostal denominations. The notion of a religious market owes much to a little-known chapter of Smith's classic work, The Wealth of Nations. This paper explores possible associations between Smith's reflections and those of contemporary authors in the qualitative study of neo-Pentecostal and entrepreneurial churches in Brazil. In doing so, this paper: i) highlights the relevance of Smith's traditional perspective for the study of the religious phenomenon, including its entrepreneurial manifestation; ii) innovatively suggests a dynamic and cyclical process between the parishioners' economic rationality and the religious agents' activity, and; iii) strengthens and expands the current literature on the rationalized processes of religious behaviour.

Entrepreneurial orientation far beyond opportunity: the influence of the necessity for innovativeness, proactiveness and risk-taking

“…According to Pierucci and Prandi (1996, p. 275), the neo-Pentecostals are “novel protestants made in Brazil.” The development of novel non-traditional religious denominations, including the neo-Pentecostal evangelical one, reflects the secularization of the Brazilian state, i.e. state–church separation, which was made official in 1889 (Corrêa et al. , 2021c).…”

“…The second was religious pluralism, i.e. the possibility of new non-traditional denominations arising and seeking institutional solidity (Corrêa et al. , 2021c).…”

“…The development of novel non-traditional religious denominations, including the neo-Pentecostal evangelical one, reflects the secularization of the Brazilian state, i.e. state-church separation, which was made official in 1889 (Corrêa et al, 2021c). This religious secularization has given rise to two complementary movements.…”

“…(2020) stressed how research linking entrepreneurship and religion has increased in recent years. Studies associating religion and entrepreneurship usually adopt one of two fundamental perspectives (Corrêa et al. , 2021c).…”

“…In this context, Block et al (2020) stressed how research linking entrepreneurship and religion has increased in recent years. Studies associating religion and entrepreneurship usually adopt one of two fundamental perspectives (Corrêa et al, 2021c). Some authors have drawn attention to the influence of religion on distinct aspects of entrepreneurship (Altinay and Wang, 2011;Du, 2017;Gursoy et al, 2017;Henley, 2017), understanding religion as an institutional structure (Welter, 2011).…”