After the fall: the impact of government regulation on church attendance in Eastern Europe, 1990-2004

摘要

Previous literature modeling the demand for religion has identified socioeco-nomic factors, religious human capital and religious market structure as being the fundamental determinants of the level of participation in religious services and practices. Building on the existing literature, this study analyzes the effect of government regulation and intervention on religious activity. Using religion-related data as well as demographic and economic data from 22 Eastern European countries after the fall of Communism, the existence of any form of religious restrictions is found to reduce church attendance rates.