Religious Festivals and Economic Development: Evidence from the Timing of Mexican Saint Day Festivals
研究墨西哥天主教圣徒节日时间对当地长期经济发展的影响，发现与农忙季节重合的节日会降低家庭收入和整体发展水平，原因可能是农业生产力下降阻碍了结构转型。
Does variation in how religious festivals are celebrated have economic consequences? We study the economic impacts of the timing of Catholic patron saint day festivals in Mexico. For causal identification, we exploit cross-locality variation in festival dates and in the timing of agricultural seasons. We estimate the impact of “ agriculturally coinciding” festivals (those coinciding with peak planting or harvest months) on long-run economic development of localities. Agriculturally coinciding festivals lead to lower household income and worse development outcomes overall. These negative effects are likely due to lower agricultural productivity, which inhibits structural transformation out of agriculture. Agriculturally coinciding festivals may nonetheless persist because they also lead to higher religiosity and social capital.