Does Religion Matter for Savings Habit of Households in Ghana ?

Abstract

Some studies have found that church attendance is negatively associated with economic growth and that belief in hell or heaven is positively associated with economic growth. The implication of this assertion is that 'believing rather than belonging' is what matters for economic performance as far as religion is concerned. Using logistic regression model on the data set of a metropolitan area, we have provided another evidence to further the empirical scholarship on the effect of religion on economic performance .We showed that church attendance perversely affects savings but belief may not matter significantly for savings decision of household after we have controlled for liquidity constraint, family ties and income uncertainty. We found that savings is negatively related to church attendance but belief in hell does not matter for household savings.

A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship Between Religiosity and Saving Behaviour

“…The studies used two types of sampling methods: probability sampling and non-probability sampling. Ababio and Mawutor (2015); Kassim et al (2019); Murdayanti et al (2020);and Yayeh (2014) applied the probability sampling method, whereas Ismail et al (2018); Mei Teh et al (2019);Priyo Nugroho et al (2017); Satsios and Hadjidakis (2017); and Wijaya et al (2019) employed the non-probability sampling method. Meanwhile, Abdullah and Abd.…”

“…Various statistical analyses were also applied, namely Pearson correlation (Satsios & Hadjidakis, 2017), chi-square test (Wijaya et al, 2019), multiple linear regression (Abdullah & Abd. Majid, 2001;Ismail et al, 2018;Kassim et al, 2019;Prastiwi, 2021), logit regression (Ababio & Mawutor, 2015;Mei Teh et al, 2019), probit regression (Yayeh, 2014), partial least square (Murdayanti et al, 2020), and simultaneous equation modelling (Priyo Nugroho et al, 2017). On the other hand, various fit test indicators, such as chi-square (Wijaya et al, 2019;Yayeh, 2014), odds ratio (Ababio & Mawutor, 2015;Mei Teh et al, 2019), and t-statistic (Abdullah & Abd.…”

“…Majid, 2001;Ismail et al, 2018;Kassim et al, 2019;Prastiwi, 2021), logit regression (Ababio & Mawutor, 2015;Mei Teh et al, 2019), probit regression (Yayeh, 2014), partial least square (Murdayanti et al, 2020), and simultaneous equation modelling (Priyo Nugroho et al, 2017). On the other hand, various fit test indicators, such as chi-square (Wijaya et al, 2019;Yayeh, 2014), odds ratio (Ababio & Mawutor, 2015;Mei Teh et al, 2019), and t-statistic (Abdullah & Abd. Majid, 2001;Ismail et al, 2018;Kassim et al, 2019;Prastiwi, 2021), have been used to assess the significance of the relationship between religiosity and saving behaviour.…”

“…Furthermore, the study locations reveal that respondents were from a variety of countries, including Ethiopia, Ghana, Greece, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Meanwhile, all studies were ready to use the same method to express effect sizes in Pearson's r. The study conducted by Priyo Nugroho et al ( 2017) had the largest effect size (0.566), while the study performed by Ababio and Mawutor (2015) had the smallest one (0.054). Table 3 provides the random-effects model, and Table 4 presents the heterogeneity statistics.…”

“…After reviewing previous studies and establishing the inclusion criteria, eleven journal articles were identified as the study sample; all together these sources provided a total of 1,063 participants coming from various locations. More specifically, Yayeh (2014) collected samples in Ethiopia, while Ababio and Mawutor (2015) did so in Ghana. Satsios and Hadjidakis (2017) gathered data in Greece.…”