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Title: Church Membership and Social Insurance: Evidence from the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927

Citation Type: Working Paper

Publication Year: 2016

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Abstract: Religious communities are key providers of social insurance. This paper focuses on the devastating impact of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 to investigate how an increase in the demand for social insurance affects church membership. We find a significant increase in church membership in flooded counties. This effect is stronger in counties with severe economic losses and where access to credit was limited. We also document that fundamental denominations gained more members in flooded counties, which is consistent with the theory of club goods emphasizing the efficient provision of mutual insurance in stricter religious

Url: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2862290

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Authors: Ager, Philipp; Hansen, Casper Worm; Lonstrup, Lars

Series Title: Discussion Papers on Business and Economics

Publication Number: 7/2016

Institution: University of Southern Denmark

Pages: 52

Publisher Location: Odense, Kingdom of Denmark

Data Collections: IPUMS CPS

Topics: Other

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