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on Evolutionary Economics |
| By: | Sascha O. Becker; Amma Panin; Steven J. Pfaff; Jared Rubin (Chapman University) |
| Abstract: | This chapter examines the role of religion in economic development, both historically and today. Religion's influence varies globally, with high religiosity in countries like Pakistan and low rates in China. Despite declines in some Western countries, religion remains influential worldwide, with projected growth in Muslim populations due to higher fertility rates. Religion continues to shape societal norms and institutions, such as education and politics, even after its direct influence fades. The chapter explores how religious institutions and norms have impacted economic outcomes, focusing on both persistence and decline. It also examines cultural transmission, institutional entrenchment, networks, and religious competition as mechanisms sustaining religion's influence. We explore the relationship between religion and secularization, showing that economic development does not always reduce religiosity. Lastly, the chapter highlights gaps in the literature and suggests future research areas on the evolving role of religion in economic development. |
| Keywords: | Religion; Economic Development; Religiosity; Cultural Transmission; Secularization; Historical Persistence; Religious Competition; Networks; Social Norms |
| JEL: | D85 I25 J10 N30 O33 O43 P48 Z10 Z12 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chu:wpaper:25-01 |
| By: | Bucci, Alberto; Prettner, Klaus |
| Abstract: | Fertility rates have declined dramatically across almost all highincome countries over the past decades. This has raised concerns about future economic prospects. Indeed, fully- and semi-endogenous growth models imply that a shrinking workforce would lead to declining income growth and perhaps even stagnation. We extend the previous analyses to explicitly incorporate an endogenous quantity/quality trade-off between fertility and human capital accumulation. This allows us to assess the extent to which a declining number of workers can be compensated by increasing education. Our analysis demonstrates that economic growth needs not necessarily to decline with a falling population. Under certain conditions, human capital investment can sustain technological progress and economic growth despite the demographic challenges we are facing. |
| Keywords: | Demographic Change, Fertility Decline, Economic Growth, Research and Development, Endogenous Fertility, Endogenous Education, Human Capital Accumulation |
| JEL: | J11 J13 O33 O41 I25 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1585 |
| By: | Massimo Cervesato (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we aim to shed new light on the methodology that Elinor Ostrom used to study real institutional situations by analyzing the specific theoretical influences that led her to mobilize the notion of complexity. We show the hitherto neglected decisive influence on her work of the "sciences of the artificial", a term coined by the political scientist, economist and precursor of systems thinking, Herbert A. Simon. On several occasions, Ostrom described Simon's book The Sciences of the Artificial as the precursor of a new methodology upon which she relied to understand the most complex system of all: human society. We thus demonstrate that the systems-engineering approach, in particular as established by Simon, played a greater role in Ostrom's work than is usually assumed. This way, we expect to provide a more precise understanding of the notion of complexity she used and the methodological choices that resulted from it. In so doing, we also illustrate how an interdisciplinary approach based on the notion of complexity can concretely be used in institutional economics |
| Keywords: | Ostrom (Elinor); complexity; Economic Methodology; Simon (Herbert A.); Systems Science; Institutional Analysis |
| JEL: | B25 B31 B41 B52 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:25007 |