Economics of Religion

Religion is one of the most ubiquitous of human phenomena. In most societies, both historical and contemporary, religion has played a role in shaping a wide array of economic outcomes, including human capital accumulation, technological change, demographic composition, and labor market allocation. These outcomes have both directly and indirectly shaped the economic, political, and institutional trajectories of societies and have played a key role in determining the worldwide distribution of income and wealth.

To explore these issues, on November 14, 2026, the NBER, with the generous support of the Templeton Religion Trust, will host a conference in San Francisco. The program will be organized by Samuel Bazzi (University of California, San Diego), Nathan Nunn (University of British Columbia), and Jared Rubin (Chapman University). It will highlight recent research on economic issues related to religion. Examples of issues that might be addressed include, but are not limited to: 

• Current and historic role of religion in advancing or impeding economic development, social progress, human capital, or scientific and technology advances.
• The role that religion has played in sustaining or undermining political economy outcomes.
• The connection between superstitious beliefs and economic outcomes.
• The role that religious institutions have played in economic and financial markets.
• Demographic changes within and across societies that result from religious beliefs and practices.

To be considered for inclusion on the program, papers must be uploaded by 11:59pm ET on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, via the following link:

Submit Papers 

Please feel free to share this call for papers widely with any researchers who might be working on projects that are suitable for presentation. We are particularly open to multidisciplinary perspectives and to work outside of economics.

Please do not submit papers that have been accepted for publication and will be published by November 2026 and be aware that papers presented at NBER conferences may not make policy recommendations or offer normative judgements on policy. Authors chosen to present papers will be notified in early September. One author of each paper that is selected for presentation will receive an honorarium payment for conference participation. Co-authors will be invited to attend but will not receive any payment. There is a modest amount of funding to support graduate student travel and accommodations. Questions about this conference may be addressed to confer@nber.org.