Religion is good for business

Robert Barro and Rachel McCleary of Harvard University are among those who have turned their research to noneconomic factors, such as religion, to explain economic growth.

A 2003 paper by Barro and McCleary concluded that economic growth responds positively to the extent of religious beliefs, notably those in hell and heaven, but negatively to church attendance.

"We conjecture that religious beliefs stimulate growth because they help to sustain aspects of individual behavior — honesty, thrift, work ethic — that enhance productivity," McCleary said in an e-mail to the Deseret Morning News. "There is some indication that the 'stick' represented by the fear of damnation is more potent for growth than the 'carrot' from the prospect of salvation."

McCleary said their statistical estimates do not imply that greater church attendance has a net negative influence on economic growth. Rather, the net effect depends on the extent to which an increase in attendance leads to stronger beliefs.

"Having many religious holidays or requiring congregants to attend services does not necessarily translate into more believers," McCleary said. "Furthermore, joining a church for social reasons may not produce the kind of beliefs that lead to personal traits that enhance productivity."

The Federal Reserve study shows some evidence that countries with higher levels of per capita gross domestic product also tend to have lower levels of corruption.

"Countries that tend to have higher percentages of their population that believe in hell also tend to be less corrupt," Kliesen said. "These correlations are quite strong. Although they do not provide evidence that one causes the other, they are nonetheless consistent with the Barro and McCleary result that religious beliefs can influence economic outcomes."

Jeff Thredgold, president of Salt Lake-based Thredgold Economic Associates and an economic consultant to Zions Bank, said religious beliefs take away as much from the economy as they add.

"If you have higher levels of religious activity, whether it is (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), Southern Baptist, Catholic or whatever, then you could probably find that there is a reasonable correlation of higher religious focus and higher levels of performance on the job or commitment to a job," Thredgold said. "But to the extent that people give of their means to a church, like paying tithing, then that is a net negative to the economy. It's great for the church, but it's not necessarily great for the community, especially if those funds are being spent elsewhere."