Abstract
Research background: Religion is often neglected by economists despite the existing studies of its importance for the economy. Religion and culture shape the development of informal and formal institutions and hence impact economic development. Considering the economic importance of China, the religious situation in that country deserves attention; at the same time, due to the peculiar conditions of religion under Communism, the future of religion in China seems rather unclear. Purpose of the article: The paper proposes that the economics of religion may be useful in the analysis of the religious situation in China. It shows the possibilities of applying the economic approach even where markets are suppressed, such as under Communist rule. In light of economic theory, it shows that the experience of Central European countries under Communist rule, particularly Czechoslovakia, may provide clues about the future of religion in China. Methods: The paper builds on previous findings in the economics of religion. It reviews the theories concerning the regulation of the religious markets and the effects of deregulation, as well as the theories specifically developed to analyze religion under heavy regelation and the strategies for its survival. The history of Communist China and Czechoslovakia are compared with regard to those theories. Findings & Value added: The paper shows the similarities between Communist China and Czechoslovakia. The parallels seem useful to predict the further development of religion in China, including the effect of the possible tightening of anti-religious policies as well as those of deregulation upon the liberalization of the Chinese political regime.
Highlights
Religion is certainly not among the hottest issues in economic research
The economics of religion provides interesting insights both for economists and for researchers in other disciplines dealing with religion
The economics of religion has been developed in two lines
Summary
Over recent decades, it has attracted some attention among economists. This is in line with the general development in the field, which increasingly recognizes the role of institutions and culture, as well as with the imperialist ambitions of economists (see [1] and [2], respectively). The economics of religion provides interesting insights both for economists and for researchers in other disciplines dealing with religion. The interest in the economic analysis of religion was revived in the imperialist transformation of economics in the 1970s, starting with the seminal paper of Azzi and Ehrenberg [4], and extended in the works of Gary Becker’s student, Laurence Iannaccone (notably in his writing of the early 1990s, see [5, 6, 7]). Advances in the field may be followed in the review articles published in the Journal of Economic Literature [8, 9]
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