Montero Eduardo, Yang Dean
Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago, 1307 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637.
University of Michigan, Department of Economics and, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, 735 S. State Street, Room 3316, Ann Arbor, MI 48109.
Am Econ Rev Insights. 2022 Oct;112(10):3176-3214. doi: 10.1257/aer.20211094.
Does variation in how religious festivals are celebrated have economic consequences? We study the economic impacts of the timing of Catholic patron saint day festivals in Mexico. For causal identification, we exploit cross-locality variation in festival dates and in the timing of agricultural seasons. We estimate the impact of "agriculturally-coinciding" festivals (those coinciding with peak planting or harvest months) on long-run economic development of localities. Agriculturally-coinciding festivals lead to lower household income and worse development outcomes overall. These negative effects are likely due to lower agricultural productivity, which inhibits structural transformation out of agriculture. Agriculturally-coinciding festivals may nonetheless persist because they also lead to higher religiosity and social capital.
宗教节日庆祝方式的差异会产生经济后果吗？我们研究了墨西哥天主教守护神节日时间安排的经济影响。为了进行因果识别，我们利用了节日日期和农业季节时间在不同地区的差异。我们估计“与农业时间重合”的节日（那些与种植或收获高峰期重合的节日）对当地长期经济发展的影响。与农业时间重合的节日总体上会导致家庭收入降低和发展成果变差。这些负面影响可能是由于农业生产率较低，这抑制了从农业向其他产业的结构转型。然而，与农业时间重合的节日可能会持续存在，因为它们也会带来更高的宗教虔诚度和社会资本。
