An Economic Perspective of Religious Organizations Abstract Essay

An Economic Perspective of Religious Organizations Abstract In the process of studying religions, we often overlook the secular aspects of religious organizations. This paper examines the basic flows of money in different spiritual organizations, and attempts to correlate the types of income with the structure of the priestly hierarchy. This analysis is by no means comprehensive. In the end, more questions are raised than are answered. Introduction For all the mythological and sociological components of religion, religious organizations operate under the same restrictions as any other secular establishment. Religious organizations can be characterized as multi-generational institutions with distinct rights, privileges, and liabilities; the essential definition of a corporation. While the sources of income and the liabilities are substantially different from a standard company, an economic analysis of religious behavior allows us to compare religions in certain areas. The goal of this paper is to ignore the philosophy, and view religion with a purely economic perspective1. In this analysis of religious organizations, I will attempt to identify the sources of revenue for different religious organizations, explain different hierarchies, and attempt to draw some conclusions of the interactions of money and organization. This topic is expansive, and as such I will often simplify or identify further fields of research, rather than getting too off topic. In the end, I hope to provide a basic understanding of the complexities of religious finance. Revenue The single most important economic means of distinguishing religions is through the source of money. Adam Smith, in his seminal work The Wealth o... ...pter inspired the idea of this paper. Raines, John. Marx on Religion. Temple Univ. Press. 2002 -A primer on Marx’s various writings on religion; a rather condensed work. Marx had some rather complex ideas, and his writing is given to misleading quotes, which is why I do not quote his work. (Author Unknown) â€Å"Evaluation the Evidence: Religious Economies and Sacred Canopies.† American Sociological Review 54 1989 -Sociology papers are difficult for an outsider to read (to say the least), but this paper deals with the topic in a sufficiently interesting manner to merit its mention. Hardin, Russell. "The Economics of Religious Belief and Practice" Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics. 1997. -A basic analysis of (western) religions and their finances. Useful article, and written in a language that I can understand (thanks to a minor in economics).