Religious rules as a means of strengthening family ties: Theory and evidence from the Amish

• Published in: Journal of Comparative Economics Vol. 48; no. 3; pp. 729 - 748
• Main Author: Choy, James P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.09.2020
• Subjects: Altruism; Cooperation; Cultural economics; Family relationships; Religion; Cultural economics; D64; Family relationships; Cooperation; D13; Religion; Z10; Z12; Altruism
• ISSN: 0147-5967; 1095-7227
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2019.12.007

•Amish religious rules increase altruism and cooperation within families.•Amish religious punishments prevent children from leaving the community.•Children of richer Amish parents are less likely to leave the community.•Amish rules explain Amish cultural persistence and persistently low welfare.•Amish rules explain high Amish fertility rates. Religious institutions impose many rules on their members. I argue that a central function of these rules in many religious communities is to promote altruistic and cooperative behavior within families. My argument contrasts with the dominant view in the literature that the primary economic function of religious rules is to promote altruism and cooperation between unrelated religious community members. I develop my argument using a novel dataset on the Amish. My theory can explain selection patterns into the Amish church, Amish cultural persistence, persistent inequality between the Amish and non-Amish people, and high Amish fertility rates.