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Betting on the Lord: lotteries and religiosity in Haiti

Author

Listed:
  • Emmanuelle Auriol

    (TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - UT - Université de Toulouse - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)

  • Diego Delissaint
  • Maleke Fourati
  • Josepa Miquel-Florensa

    (IAST - Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse)

  • Paul Seabright

    (TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - UT - Université de Toulouse - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)

Abstract
We conducted an experimental study in Haiti testing for the relationship between religious belief and individual risk taking behavior. 774 subjects played lotteries in a standard neutral protocol and subsequently with reduced endowments but in the presence of religious images of Catholic, Protestant and Voodoo tradition. Subjects chose between paying to play a lottery with an image of their choice, and saving their money to play with no image. Those who chose the former are dened as image buyers and those who chose the latter as non-buyers. Image buyers, who tend to be less educated, more rural, and to exhibit greater religiosity, bet more than non-buyers in all games. In addition, in the presence of religious images all participants took more risk, and buyers took more risk when playing in the presence of their chosen images than when playing with other images. We develop a theoretical model calibrated with our experimental data to explore the channels through which religious images might a ect risk-taking. Our results suggest that the presence of images tends to increase individuals' subjective probability of winning the lottery, and that subjects therefore believe in a god who intervenes actively in the world in response to their requests.

Suggested Citation

  • Emmanuelle Auriol & Diego Delissaint & Maleke Fourati & Josepa Miquel-Florensa & Paul Seabright, 2021. "Betting on the Lord: lotteries and religiosity in Haiti," Post-Print hal-03353066, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03353066
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105441
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03353066
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    1. Emmanuelle Auriol & Diego Delissaint & Maleke Fourati & Josepa Miquel‐Florensa & Paul Seabright, 2021. "Trust in the image of God: Links between religiosity and reciprocity in Haiti," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(1), pages 3-34, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Risk preferences; Religion; Field Experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion

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