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The Effect of Religious Denomination on Wealth
Who Were the Truly Blessed?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 January 2016
Abstract
The wealth of probated decedents from late-nineteenth-century and early-twentieth-century Ontario is analyzed for evidence of the impact of religious affiliation on the level of wealth and rate of wealth accumulation. After controlling for age, birthplace, occupation, gender, urbanization, and other factors, the results suggest that relative to Anglicans, the wealth of Methodists and Roman Catholics was significantly lower. Moreover, when religious denomination and birthplace are interacted, Canadian-born Anglicans emerge as the dominant wealth group, while the English-born of any denomination and Methodists of any birthplace seem to fare the worst. When wealthage profiles are examined by denomination, Baptists have the steepest profiles, followed by Anglicans and Presbyterians. The data do support the hypothesis that religious affiliation, particularly when interacted with birthplace, has an impact on wealth, though the exact nature of the mechanism is unclear.
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