TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Binzel, Christine
AU  - Carvalho, Jean-Paul
        TI  - Education, Social Mobility and Religious Movements: A Theory of the Islamic Revival in Egypt
        PY  - 2013/Mar/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 7259
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp7259
        AB  - This paper examines the economic origins of the Islamic revival that took place in Egypt in the 1970-80s, and in Muslim societies more generally. We provide the first systematic evidence of a decline in social mobility among educated youth in Egypt. Developing a behavioral model of religion, we then characterize conditions under which a temporary decline in social mobility produces a large and long-lasting rise in religious participation. Religion in our model helps to cope with loss, which occurs when one's consumption falls below an expectations-based reference point. The model provides an explanation for why the educated middle class were in the vanguard of the Islamic revival. Rather than undermining religious belief and participation, our analysis suggests that economic development can make societies more prone to religious revivals.
        KW  - social movements
KW  - inequality
KW  - social mobility
KW  - education
KW  - Islamic revival
KW  - Egypt
        ER  -