Religiosity and Entrepreneurship in Post-Soviet Russia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.22397Keywords:
religiosity, religious participation, Orthodox Christianity, Islam, entrepreneurship, panel data, RussiaAbstract
This article empirically studies the associations between religion (Orthodox Christianity, Islam, and non-religion), religiosity (to be a believer or not, and to what extent), religious participation (attending divine services, meetings or other religious events) and the probabilities of being an entrepreneur in post-Soviet Russia. Using logistic regressions and data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey, the findings suggest lower likelihoods of being an entrepreneur in the case of Orthodox Christians, religiosity shows mixed results, and religious participation presents positive links (increasing the probabilities of becoming an entrepreneur). Nevertheless, the negative association between Orthodoxy and entrepreneurship lacks statistical significance in several specifications. Indeed, only religious participation shows robust results, particularly for men. Note that religious participation is linked to social capital, namely, networking, facilitating resources for entrepreneurship. Therefore, in Russia, the religion-entrepreneurship nexus is associated with participation, and not precisely with religious affiliations or beliefs.
References
Akhmetkarimov, Bulat 2019 Islamic Practice and State Policies towards Religion in Post-Soviet Russia. Religion, State and Society 47(2): 180–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/09637494.2019.1582209
Altonji, Joseph G., Todd E. Elder and Christopher R. Taber 2005 Selection on Observed and Unobserved Variables: Assessing the Effectiveness of Catholic Schools. Journal of Political Economy 113(1): 151–84. https://doi.org/10.1086/426036
Anderson, Alistair, John Park and Sarah Jack 2007 Entrepreneurial Social Capital: Conceptualizing Social Capital in New High-tech Firms. International Small Business Journal 25(3): 245–72. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266242607076526
Audretsch, David B., Werner Bönte and Jagannadha Pawan Tamvada 2007 Religion and Entrepreneurship. Jena Economic Research Paper No. 2007-075. Jena, Germany. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1025968
Audretsch, David B., Werner Bönte and Jagannadha Pawan Tamvada 2013 Religion, Social Class, and Entrepreneurial Choice. Journal of Business Venturing 28(6): 774–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2013.06.002
Baltagi, Badi 2005 Econometric Analysis of Panel Data. 3rd edn. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Baranik, Lisa E., Brandon Gorman and William J. Wales 2018 What Makes Muslim Women Entrepreneurs Successful? A Field Study Examining Religiosity and Social Capital in Tunisia. Sex Roles 78(3–4): 208–219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0790-7
Barbosa, Saulo Dubard, Megan W. Gerhardt and Jill Richard Kickul 2007 The Role of Cognitive Style and Risk Preference on Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy and Entrepreneurial Intentions. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies 13(4): 86–104. https://doi.org/10.1177/10717919070130041001
Barro, Robert J., and Rachel M. McCleary 2003 Religion and Economic Growth across Countries. American Sociological Review 68(5): 760–81. https://doi.org/10.2307/1519761
Bartke, Stephan, and Reimund Schwarze 2008 Risk-Averse by Nation or by Religion? Some Insights on the Determinants of Individual Risk Attitudes. SOEPpaper No. 131. Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Berlin. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1285520
Beck, Sedefka V. 2016 Wage Differentials in the United States: Does Religious Participation Matter? Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 55(3): 558–78. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12286
Bellows, John, and Edward Miguel 2009 War and Local Collective Action in Sierra Leone. Journal of Public Economics 93(11–12): 1144–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2009.07.012
Bergner, Sabine 2020 Being Smart Is Not Enough: Personality Traits and Vocational Interests Incrementally Predict Intention, Status and Success of Leaders and Entrepreneurs Beyond Cognitive Ability. Frontiers in Psychology 11(204): 1–19. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00204
Brändle, Leif, Elisabeth S.C. Berger, Stephan Golla and Andreas Kuckertz 2018 I Am What I Am – How Nascent Entrepreneurs’ Social Identity Affects Their Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy. Journal of Business Venturing Insights 9: 17–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbvi.2017.12.001
Dana, Leo Paul 2009 Religion as an Explanatory Variable for Entrepreneurship. The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation 10(2): 87–99. https://doi.org/10.5367/000000009788161280
Dana, Leo Paul 2010 Entrepreneurship and Religion. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Deller, Steven C., Tessa Conroy and Bjorn Markeson 2018 Social Capital, Religion and Small Business Activity. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 155: 365–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2018.09.006
De Noble, Alex, Gangaram Singh, Craig S. Galbraith and Curt H. Stiles 2007 Market Justice, Religious Orientation, and Entrepreneurial Attitudes: An Empirical Study. Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy 1(2): 121–34. https://doi.org/10.1108/17506200710752548
Djankov, Simeon, and Elena Nikolova 2018 Communism as the Unhappy Coming. Journal of Comparative Economics 46(3): 708–721. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jce.2018.07.002
Dunajeva, Jekatyerina, and Karrie J. Koesel 2017 ‘Us versus Them’: The Politics of Religion in Contemporary Russia. Review of Faith and International Affairs 15(1): 56–67. https://doi.org/10.1080/15570274.2017.1284402
Edelman, Linda F., Tatiana Manolova, Galina Shirokova and Tatyana Tsukanova 2016 The Impact of Family Support on Young Entrepreneurs’ Start-up Activities. Journal of Business Venturing 31(4): 428–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2016.04.003
Farmaki, Anna, Levent Altinay, Prokopis Christou and Ainur Kenebayeva 2020 Religion and Entrepreneurship in Hospitality and Tourism. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 32(1): 148–72. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-02-2019-0185
Froese, Paul 2004 Forced Secularization in Soviet Russia: Why an Atheistic Monopoly Failed. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 43(1): 35–50. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2004.00216.x
Gotsis, George, and Zoe Kortezi 2009 The Impact of Greek Orthodoxy on Entrepreneurship: A Theoretical Framework. Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy 3(2): 152–75. https://doi.org/10.1108/17506200910960851
Hayes, Richard N., and Jeffrey A. Robinson 2011 A Research Note on Institutional Logics and Entrepreneurial Action: The Case of Black Church Organizations. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship 16(4): 499–515. https://doi.org/10.1142/S1084946711001963
Hill, Nicholas J., Samuel Perkins and Joann White 2015 The Influence of Religion on Becoming an Entrepreneur in the United States. Academy of Entrepreneurship Journal 21(2): 15–24.
Iannaccone, Laurence R. 1998 Introduction to the Economics of Religion. Journal of Economic Literature 36(4): 1465–96. Online: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2564806
Kaufmann, Eric, Anne Goujon and Vegard Skirbekk 2012 The End of Secularization in Europe?: A Socio-demographic Perspective. Sociology of Religion: A Quarterly Review 73(1): 69–91. https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srr033
Kozyreva, Polina, Mikhail Kosolapov and Barry M. Popkin 2016 Data Resource Profile: The Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey—
Higher School of Economics (RLMS-HSE) Phase II: Monitoring the Economic and Health Situation in Russia, 1994–2013. International Journal of Epidemiology 45(2): 395–401. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyv357
Lans, Thomas, Vincent Blok and Judith Gulikers 2015 Show Me Your Network and I’ll Tell You Who You Are: Social Competence and Social Capital of Early-Stage Entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development 27(7–8): 458–73. https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2015.1070537
Lazear, Edward P. 2005 Entrepreneurship. Journal of Labor Economics 23(4): 649–80. https://doi.org/10.1086/491605
Lechmann, Daniel S. J., and Claus Schnabel 2012 Why is There a Gender Earnings Gap in Self-employment? A Decomposition Analysis with German Data. IZA Journal of European Labor Studies 1(6): 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-9012-1-6
Lenski, Gerhard 1963 The Religious Factor: A Sociologist’s Inquiry. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
Lévesque, Moren, and Maria Minniti 2006 The Effect of Aging on Entrepreneurial Behavior. Journal of Business Venturing 21(2): 177–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2005.04.003
Lewis, Valerie A., Carol Ann MacGregor and Robert D. Putnam 2013 Religion, Networks, and Neighborliness: The Impact of Religious Social Networks on Civic Engagement. Social Science Research 42(2): 331–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2012.09.011
Lisovskaya, Elena, and Vyacheslav Karpov 2010 Orthodoxy, Islam, and the Desecularization of Russia’s State Schools. Politics and Religion 3(2): 276–302. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755048310000040
McCleary, Rachel M., and Robert J. Barro 2006 Religion and Economy. Journal of Economic Perspectives 20(2): 49–72. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.20.2.49
Minns, Chris, and Marian Rizov 2005 The Spirit of Capitalism? Ethnicity, Religion, and Self-employment in Early 20th Century Canada. Explorations in Economic History 42(2): 259–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eeh.2004.07.002
Moyaert, Marianne 2014 Inappropriate Behavior? On the Ritual Core of Religion and its Challenges to Interreligious Hospitality. Journal for the Academic Study of Religion 27(2): 222–42. https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.v27i2.222
Neneh, Brownhilder Ngek 2019 From Entrepreneurial Alertness to Entrepreneurial Behavior: The Role of Trait Competitiveness and Proactive Personality. Personality and Individual Differences 138: 273–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.10.020
Nikolova, Elena, and Dora Simroth 2015 Religious Diversity and Entrepreneurship in Transition: Lessons for Policymakers. IZA Journal of European Labor Studies 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40174-014-0028-4
North, Douglass C. 1991 Institutions. Journal of Economic Perspectives 5(1): 97–112. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.5.1.97
Oster, Emily 2019 Unobservable Selection and Coefficient Stability: Theory and Evidence. Journal of Business and Economic Statistics 37(2): 187–204. https://doi.org/10.1080/07350015.2016.1227711
Pollack, Detlef 2014 La théorie de la sécularisation au banc d’essai. Archives de Sciences Sociales des Religions 167: 147–69. https://doi.org/10.4000/assr.26168
RLMS-HSE 2020 The Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey—Higher School of Economics. Online: https://www.hse.ru/en/rlms/ (accessed 26 September 2020).
Sánchez-Torné, Isadora, Macarena Pérez-Suárez, Esther García-Río and Pedro Baena-Luna 2021 ¿Cómo influye el género en la Intención Emprendedora? Un análisis del estudiantado universitario. Revista de Investigación Educativa 39(2): 427–44. https://doi.org/10.6018/rie.428451
Schumpeter, Joseph A. 1934 The Theory of Economic Development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Selznick, Philip 1996 Institutionalism ‘Old’ and ‘New’. Administrative Science Quarterly 41(2): 270–77. Online: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2393719
Spenkuch, Jörg L. 2017 Religion and Work: Micro Evidence from Contemporary Germany. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 135: 193–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2017.01.011
Stam, Wouter, Souren Arzlanian and Tom Elfring 2014 Social Capital of Entrepreneurs and Small Firm Performance: A Meta-analysis of Contextual and Methodological Moderators. Journal of Business Venturing 29(1): 152–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2013.01.002
Steinbrink, Kathrin M., Elisabeth S. C. Berger and Andreas Kuckertz 2019 Top Athletes’ Psychological Characteristics and their Potential for Entrepreneurship. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal 16: 859–78. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-019-00612-6
Tamzini, Khaled, and Anis Ben Salem (eds) 2020 Understanding the Relationship Between Religion and Entrepreneurship. Hershey, PN: IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-1802-1
Tovar-García, Edgar Demetrio 2020 Religiosity and Wage Earnings in Post-Soviet Russia. Journal of Religion in Europe 13(1–2): 45–66. https://doi.org/10.1163/18748929-13010002
Tur Porcar, Ana, and Domingo Ribeiro Soriano (eds) 2018 Inside the Mind of the Entrepreneur: Cognition, Personality Traits, Intention, and Gender Behavior. Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62455-6
Upadhyay, Archana 2018 Religion and Religiosity in Russia: An Overview. International Studies 53(3–4): 195–209. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020881717753860
Uzlaner, Dmitry, and Kristina Stoeckl 2019 From Pussy Riot’s ‘Punk Prayer’ to Matilda: Orthodox Believers, Critique, and Religious Freedom in Russia. Journal of Contemporary Religion 34(3): 427–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/13537903.2019.1658432
Weber, Max 1905 La ética protestante y el espíritu del capitalismo. 9th edn. México: Premia Editora.
Xie, Chuanyin 2014 Why Do Some People Choose to Become Entrepreneurs? An Integrative Approach. Journal of Management Policy & Practice 15(1): 25–38. Online: http://www.na-businesspress.com/JMPP/XieC_Web15_1_.pdf
Zelekha, Yaron, Gil Avnimelech and Eyal Sharabi 2014 Religious Institutions and Entrepreneurship. Small Business Economics 42(4): 747–67. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-013-9496-6
Zhang, Feng, Haina Zhang and Geoffrey G. Bell 2019 Corporate Religiosity and Individual Decision on Conducting Entrepreneurial Activity: The Contingent Effects of Institutional Environments in China. Asia Pacific Journal of Management 38: 955–78. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-019-09691-z
Zhou, Wencang, Xi Yang, Yuanqing Li and Yanli Zhang 2019 Pattern versus Level: A New Look at the Personality-Entrepreneurship Relationship. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research 25(1): 150–68. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-03-2018-0176
Published
Issue
Section
License
Equinox Publishing Ltd.
