Religion and Economic Growth: The Relationship between “Independent” and “Dependent” Variables

Abstract

If religion is a social entity, its social variables also have two types: “independent variable” and “dependent variable”. Studying the relationship between these two variables can help identify the interaction between religion and socio-political and economic factors. From a theoretical and methodological perspective, the paper examines religious economics as both an independent and dependent variable in spatial models of secularism, religious markets and economic development. Four specifi c research issues analyzed hereafter include religious and economic beliefs, secularism and religious economy, religious market and religious economy, confl ict and cooperation in the fi eld of religious economy.

Received 17 July 2019; published 5 November 2019