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Eliane El Badaoui

EconomiX – Université Paris Nanterre

 » Does Religiosity Cause Low Trust? Evidence from MENA countries at the Dawn of Revolutions »

The analysis of individual religious beliefs and behaviours is crucial since it allows to shed light on the current major social debates on terrorism, nuclear development and political Islam, that are all likely to have significant economic consequences. In several countries around the world, the coexistence of religions as well as the degree of religiosity merit greater attention. This article gives evidence for one of the most challenging region, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), where religious minorities live under the rule of Islam and where at first sight atheism seems nonexistent and religiosity high.

For almost a decade now, several MENA countries are facing the repercussions of the Arab Spring. Overall, Arab revolutions rised in response to a long history in fail in democracy, to corruption and to lack of material conditions that gave rise to Islamist movements and aggravate the socio-economic precariousness of young and poor population. As things stand, MENA countries are facing widespread mistrust and a decline in social capital affecting democratic life and economic performance. In this article, the focus is on the effects of the degree of religiosity and the assimilation of individuals to religious groups on the stock of social capital. We consider religiosity as a multidimensional construct. We use data for nine MENA countries from the World Value Survey over the period 2010-2014. The empirical analysis of the impact of religiosity on trust supports the existence of a multifaceted impact of religiosity, some dimensions having no impact, others having a positive or a negative impact.