Religion and economics: a literature review

Abstract

Historically, religion has been one of the areas 'assumed away' by most economists. There has been a general belief in much of economic theory that 'religious beliefs, practices, and behaviour play no role in the life of homo economicus' (Tomes, 1985, p.245), and for the large part, the literature reflects a lack of acknowledgement of religion as anything but an obstacle to economic growth, usually placed in the same basket as 'culture' (Anderson, 1988). The 'resurgence' in religion worldwide, however, has contributed to a renewed interest in religion and economics. The development of Islamic economics has led to new approaches to the development of banking, whilst the resurgence of evangelical Christianity in the US has contributed to a rapid development of 'literature' on religion. This paper provides a literature review and discussion of the emerging field of religion and economics.