Diversidade religiosa e produto interno bruto dos municípios brasileiros: uma análise para 2000 e 2010

Abstract

The objective of this work is to determine whether religious diversity in Brazil has an effect on the economic performance of Brazilian municipalities based on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in other words, starting from the capitalist spirit of Weber it is intended to evaluate if religious diversity really implies diversity of work ethics influencing local development. It is argued that diversity is the natural state of the religious market this increasing contrast and competitiveness are natural consequences of a market that favors freedom of choice as well as religion. The data method used is the Fixed Effects Panel based on information from the 2000 and 2010 Demographic Censuses. Theil's relative entropy index is used to construct the religious diversity index. The model was estimated by the dependent variables of natural GDP logarithm and natural GDP per capita logarithm, being tested with socioeconomic information obtained from the Human Development Atlas in Brazil (ADH), SUS Informatics Department (DataSUS) and the IBGE System, Automatic Recovery System (SIDRA). The results reveal that religious diversity has a positive and significant relationship with GDP and GDP per capita, that is, religious diversity has an impact on the economic development of Brazilian municipalities, and may be directly related to the opening of new churches.