Church Membership and Social Insurance: Evidence from the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927

Abstract

Religious organizations are key providers of social insurance. This paper focuses on the devastating impact of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 to investigate how an increase in the demand for social insurance affects church membership. We find a significant increase in church membership in flooded counties. This effect is stronger in counties with severe economic losses and where access to credit was limited. Consistent with economic theories stressing the insurance aspect of religious organizations, we show that denominations with a relatively large church network, or classified as strict and charity-oriented, gained more members in flooded counties.

Keywords: Religion; Informal Insurance; Club Goods; Natural Disasters

JEL Classification: Z12; H40; D70