Citation

Brown TT. Appl. Econ. 2013; 45(15): 2031-2037.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/00036846.2011.648318

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The majority of the US population is religious. The value of a fundamental religious behaviour, prayer, is determined using the well-being valuation method. Theoretically appropriate Instrumental Variables (IV) are used to avoid bias in estimating the effects of household income and the frequency of prayer on well-being. The marginal value of an additional weekly prayer session for individuals already at the national mean is estimated to be \6550 per annum (2004 dollars). Praying at the frequency of the national mean of 8.1 prayer sessions weekly is valued at \53 055 (2004 dollars) per annum. This is larger than the median household income in the US in 2004: $44 684. This suggests that the perception of communion with God is highly valued by religious individuals.

Language: en

Keywords

A13; happiness; I31; prayer; religion; well-being