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Believe, But Verify? The Effect of Market Structure on Corruption in Religious Organizations
Author(s) -
Gutmann Jerg
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
kyklos
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.766
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1467-6435
pISSN - 0023-5962
DOI - 10.1111/kykl.12078
Subject(s) - language change , limiting , promotion (chess) , competition (biology) , state (computer science) , market economy , business , private sector , economics , public economics , political economy , political science , economic growth , law , engineering , art , ecology , literature , algorithm , politics , computer science , biology , mechanical engineering
Summary This first cross‐country analysis of the causes of corruption in religious organizations provides evidence in support of policy recommendations by A dam S mith. He argued that clergy are best constrained by competition among religious groups. Their appointment and promotion should, however, be regulated by the state. Both factors are shown to confine corruption. In contrast, D avid H ume's approach of supporting state religion and limiting entry into the religious market is not a promising strategy for mitigating religious corruption. More generally, these results suggest that the private sector may indeed be shielded from sprawling corruption as long as markets are sufficiently competitive.