An Empirical Study on the Research Object and Definition of the Economics of Religion

Yang Zhiyin’s article, “An Empirical Study on the Research Object and Definition of the Economics of Religion,” represents a significant contribution to the interdisciplinary field straddling economics, religious studies, and sociology. At a time when the economics of religion remains undertheorized in Chinese academia, Yang’s work undertakes the foundational task of clarifying the discipline’s object of study—namely, religious economic entities—and proposes a comprehensive definition grounded in empirical evidence and comparative analysis.

The article begins by situating the study within a historical and methodological framework. Yang rightly notes that while religious communities have long reflected on and regulated their own economic practices—predating the formal discipline of economics by centuries—systematic academic inquiry into religious economics from an economic standpoint only emerged in the 20th century. He compellingly demonstrates this through examples from Islamic, Buddhist, and Daoist traditions, highlighting early economic insights such as labor division in medieval Islamic thought and proto-Keynesian ideas in Islamic fiscal policy, as well as Daoist influences on laissez-faire economic principles. These historical illustrations effectively challenge the Eurocentric narrative of economic thought and broaden the intellectual genealogy of the field.

A central strength of Yang’s article lies in its tripartite analytical structure. He distinguishes between three scholarly approaches to the economics of religion: (1) economists applying external, secular economic models (e.g., Stark and Iannaccone’s “religious market theory”); (2) religious scholars operating from within faith-based frameworks (e.g., Islamic economics or Buddhist economics); and (3) researchers from other disciplines—such as sociology or anthropology—who analyze the reciprocal influence between religious institutions and economic development (e.g., Max Weber’s thesis on Protestantism and capitalism). This typology is conceptually useful and clarifies the epistemological boundaries that often lead to definitional divergence.

Yang’s empirical contribution is particularly noteworthy. Drawing on fieldwork in Yunnan Province, he presents detailed data on zakat (Islamic almsgiving, or “tianke”) collections in the Shadian Muslim community from 1996 to 2009. This dataset not only substantiates the persistent and quantitatively significant role of religious economic mechanisms in contemporary China but also reveals their macroeconomic relevance—e.g., zakat contributions occasionally surpassing local fiscal revenues. Similar case studies of Buddhist temple economies (notably Shaolin Temple’s commercial-cultural model) and Christian charitable enterprises further reinforce his central thesis: religious economic entities are not marginal curiosities but active, dynamic components of the broader socioeconomic landscape.

The article’s most original contribution is its proposed definition of “religious economy” as “the totality of religious activities, relations, cultural products, services, and markets formed for the purpose of fulfilling religious faith.” Yang further contextualizes this within distinct historical modes of production—from religious natural economy to religious commodity and capital economies—thereby anchoring the concept in historical materialist analysis while respecting its theological dimensions.

However, the article is not without limitations. While Yang meticulously documents the existence of religious economic entities, he does not fully engage with normative or ethical debates surrounding the commercialization of religion (e.g., critiques of “corporate monasticism”). Additionally, the survey of Western literature remains somewhat selective, and the piece could benefit from deeper dialogue with global scholarship on faith-based finance, religious nonprofit governance, or the political economy of religious institutions.

In sum, Yang Zhiyin’s article is a rigorous, empirically grounded intervention that advances the theoretical scaffolding of religious economics in the Chinese context. By bridging confessional, secular, and interdisciplinary perspectives—and by demonstrating that religious economies are not only real but economically significant—it lays essential groundwork for future comparative, policy-oriented, and theoretical research. The article will be of interest to scholars in religious studies, economic sociology, development economics, and Chinese studies alike.

An Empirical Study on the Research Object and Definition of the Economics of Religion,  by Yang Zhiyin