Human Capital and the Supply of Religion
利用1961-2003年俄克拉荷马州卫理公会教会数据，研究牧师人力资本对教会出席人数增长的影响，发现高绩效牧师能显著提升增长率，且教会对牧师的调配体现了劳动力有效利用。
We study the role of labor inputs in religious attendance using data on Oklahoma Methodist congregations from 1961 to 2003. Pastors play a significant role in church growth: replacing a 25th percentile pastor with a 75th percentile one increases annual attendance growth by 3%. A pastor’s performance in his or her first church (largely the result of random assignment) predicts future performance, suggesting a causal effect of pastors on growth. The deployment of pastors by the church indicates efficient use of labor: low-performing pastors are more likely to be rotated or exit the sample, and high-performing pastors are moved to larger congregations.