Religion and Economic Development

In theories of economic development factors such as human resources, natural resources, capital accumulation and technology form the core of the analysis. Noneconomic factors such as politics, culture, religion, ideology and institutions are treated as part of the background setting and are usually not included in the analysis. However, in most instances of development, a favorable noneconomic factor is necessarily present to provide the motivation and/or the proper institutional setting. Politics, religion or secular ideology usually provides this. Very few economists take an interdisciplinary approach in the research and analysis of economic problems. Noneconomic factors are usually not included in economic analysis as they are difficult to quantify and are less subject to change. Religion and culture are almost impossible to change although they do transform with social change. Change in politics and ideology is usually the result of a change in the ruling class or a violent revolution. Even the evolution of institutions involves a long and usually painful process. However, the importance of these variables as constituting the basic framework in development studies cannot be neglected. In his textbook on basic economics intended for use in Third World countries, Michael Todaro makes the following caution: