Believe or not believegeneralising the Azzi-Ehrenber model
- Lorca Corrons, Alejandro
- Gourlay, Adrian
- Brañas-Garza, Pablo
- Rodero-Cosano, Javier
ISSN: 2340-6704, 0210-0266
Year of publication: 2002
Volume: 25
Issue: 69
Pages: 33-44
Type: Article
More publications in: Cuadernos de economía: Spanish Journal of Economics and Finance
Abstract
This paper presents an economic model of consumer behaviour within a religious framework. The individual is defined as being religious so, for him God exists with absolute certainty. We distinguish two separate aims of the individual: human welfare and spiritual welfare. Joint maximisation of these two targets subject to time and budgetary constraints yields a solution in which the optimal values of consumption and religiosity are obtained. Allowance is also given to the compulsory payment of a religious tax. We show that the shape of the interchange curve between these two optimal values depends upon the relative shapes of the human welfare and spiritual welfare functions.