Working Paper: NBER ID: w28821
Authors: Eduardo Montero; Dean Yang
Abstract: Does variation in how religious festivals are celebrated have economic consequences? We study the economic impacts of the timing of Catholic patron saint day festivals in Mexico. For causal identification, we exploit cross-locality variation in festival dates and in the timing of agricultural seasons. We estimate the impact of “agriculturally-coinciding” festivals (those coinciding with peak planting or harvest months) on long-run economic development of localities. Agriculturally-coinciding festivals lead to lower household income and worse development outcomes overall. These negative effects are likely due to lower agricultural productivity, which inhibits structural transformation out of agriculture. Agriculturally-coinciding festivals may nonetheless persist because they also lead to higher religiosity and social capital.
Keywords: religious festivals; economic development; Mexican saint day festivals
JEL Codes: N36; O1; Z12
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| agriculturally-coinciding festivals (Q13) | reduction in household income (D12) |
| agriculturally-coinciding festivals (Q13) | decline in economic development index (O10) |
| agriculturally-coinciding festivals (Q13) | lower agricultural productivity (Q15) |
| lower agricultural productivity (Q15) | reduction in household income (D12) |
| lower agricultural productivity (Q15) | decline in economic development index (O10) |
| higher labor force shares in agriculture (J43) | lower shares in modern sectors (E25) |
| higher religiosity and social capital (Z12) | persistence of festivals (Z18) |
| persistence of festivals (Z18) | negative economic effects do not prompt changes in festival timing (G14) |