Religious participation and children\u27s education : a social capital approach

Based on the argument in both economic and sociological literature that religion is conducive to their children\u27s human capital formation, this paper provides a model of religious participation and explores a mechanism that “social capital affects children\u27s education, a la Coleman (1988). The model generates several interesting implications, which help explain some important stylized facts about education and religion. Further, in a dynamic setting, the model shows that there exists a steady state, in which individuals allocate a positive amount of time and resources to religious activities. Thus, it complements the existing literature \u27to explain why seemingly unproductive religions can be everlasting