Why do ultra-orthodox Jews wear such strange garb? Why do two-year mission trips and prohibitions on alcohol enhance the organizational strength of the Latter Day Saints? We answer these questions and many more with Prof. Larry Iannaccone, an economist at Chapman University and the founder of the Association for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture.
Our interview begins with a gushing review of Larry’s work by Tony, who considers Prof. Iannaccone as an instrumental influence in his own work. We talk about whether (and how) economics can be used to understand religious behavior. Larry recounts the difficulty he had in getting other academics to take the economics of religion seriously, how he built this perspective up into a community that includes hundreds of scholars, and then Tony reminisces about his first encounter with this eclectic economist.
Read Full Article »