Marc von der Ruhr - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Marc von der Ruhr

Either despite or because of their non-traditional approach, megachurches have grown significantl... more Either despite or because of their non-traditional approach, megachurches have grown significantly in the United States since 1980. This paper models religious participation as an imperfect public good which, absent intervention, yields suboptimal participation by members from the church's perspective. Megachurches address this problem by employing secular based group activities to subsidize religious participation in an effort to increase attendees' religious investment. This strategy not only allows megachurches to attract and retain new members when many traditional churches are losing members, but also results in higher levels of individual satisfaction thereby allowing the megachurch to raise levels of commitment and faith practices. Data from the FACT2000 survey provide evidence that megachurches employ groups more extensively than other churches and this approach is consistent with a strategy to use the provision of groups to help subsidize individuals' religious investment. Religious capital rises among members of megachurches relative to members of non-megachurches as a result of this strategy.

We develop a model of foreign direct investment (FDI) in producer services and test its predictio... more We develop a model of foreign direct investment (FDI) in producer services and test its predictions using panel data on U.S. FDI in 25 host countries from 1976 to 1995. The main stylized fact we seek to explain is that producer-service …rms tend to follow downstream …rms into foreign markets and initially …nd it di¢cult to attract local customers. We hypothesize that this has to do with informational barriers to entry and model the consequences of such barriers for the FDI pattern. We …nd evidence that the model’s prediction are consistent with the data. JEL Classi…cation:

to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald ... more to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited. NOT THE PUBLISHED VERSION; this is the author’s final, peer-reviewed manuscript. The published version may be accessed by following the link in the citation at the bottom of the page.

Journal of Economic Integration, 2001

Abstract. Though the recent literature offers intuitively appealing bases for, and evidence of a ... more Abstract. Though the recent literature offers intuitively appealing bases for, and evidence of a linkage among religious beliefs, religious participation and economic outcomes, evidence on a relationship between religion and trust is mixed. By allowing for an attendance effect, disaggregating Protestant denominations, and using a more extensive data set, probit models of the General Social Survey (GSS), 1975 through 2000, show that Black Protestants, Pentecostals, fundamentalist Protestants, and Catholics, trust others less than individuals who do not claim a preference for a particular denomination. For conservative denominations the effect of religion is though affiliation not attendance. In contrast, liberal Protestants trust others more and this effect is reinforced by attendance. The impact of religion on moderate Protestants is only through attendance, as frequency of attendance increases trust of others while the denomination effect is insignificant. JEL Classification: Z12

Megachurches are thriving in religious markets at a time when Americans are asserting their abili... more Megachurches are thriving in religious markets at a time when Americans are asserting their ability as consumers of religious products to engage in religious switching. The apparent success of megachurches, which often provide a low cost and low commitment path by which religious refugees may join the church, seems to challenge Iannocconne’s theory that high commitment churches will thrive while low commitment churches will atrophy. This paper employs a signaling model to illustrate the strategy and organizational forms megachurches employ to indicate a match between what the church produces and the religious refugee wishes to consume in an effort to increase their membership. The model illustrates that megachurches expect little in regard to financial or time commitment of new attendees. However, once the attendees perceive a good fit with the church, the megachurch increases its expectation of commitment. Data from the FACT2000 survey provide evidence in support of the model’s pre...

Atlantic Economic Journal, 2003

Atlantic Economic Journal, 2005

Using firm-level Japanese FDI data on investment into some 27 European countries between 1970-200... more Using firm-level Japanese FDI data on investment into some 27 European countries between 1970-2000 in all industries (banking, manufacturing, wholesale/retail distribution, business services), our study examines if the 'follow the customer' hypothesis holds for firm-level data. In addition, we further extend the FTC to investigate whether Japanese multinational banks are more likely to follow customers into countries with larger markets; thereby allowing the multinational bank to expand its operations once it has established a presence in the host market. Thus, this study tests not only the FTC hypothesis but also whether the FTC hypothesis may be used as a market penetrating strategy.

Faith and Economics, 2003

Religiosity in the United States remains a strong social force. The United States persistently de... more Religiosity in the United States remains a strong social force. The United States persistently demonstrates higher religious participation than Europe. Some recent trends documented by the Pew Research Center in its 2008 and 2015 publications on the U.S. religious landscape, however, cite evidence that different religious groups are experiencing very different trends in participation. These trends show a recent and significant decline among many moderate Protestant denominations but a modest increase in participation at fundamentalist churches. The Pew Research Center similarly documents significant inconsistencies between what a religious hierarchy teaches versus what individuals personally choose to believe. For example, and perhaps most strikingly, one-half of Christians believe that non-Christian religions can lead to salvation. This finding presents a significant challenge to a religious hierarchy: will members of the church actually embrace and live what the church teaches? An...

Atlantic Economic Journal, 2020

This paper provides new evidence supporting the hypothesis that behavioral factors influence pers... more This paper provides new evidence supporting the hypothesis that behavioral factors influence personal trade policy preferences in addition to the typical economic determinants. It also examines the interaction of an uncertainty shock and behavioral factors on policy preferences. Using the Heckscher-Ohlin (H-O) model as a theoretical framework, we apply ordered probit estimations to survey responses from an ISSP survey question about preferences towards limiting imports. We sequentially estimate extensions of the model to investigate the impact of national identity on policy preferences. We augment the model to test how feelings of nationalism and patriotism influence personal trade policy preferences. The data from the ISSP surveys administered in 1995/1996 and 2003/2004 also allow us to reflect the impact of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on trade preferences in the U.S. We find that individuals do not make decisions based solely on the extent to which an action directly increases his/...

Abstract. Despite their non-traditional approach, megachurches have grown significantly in the Un... more Abstract. Despite their non-traditional approach, megachurches have grown significantly in the United States since 1980. This paper constructs a model of religious investment to examine how “seeker”-oriented megachurches succeed in attracting and retaining new members. The model illustrates that megachurches have been able to encourage additional religious investment through group-based activities. Hence, these activities may be viewed as a subsidy for religious investment. As a result, individuals associated with megachurches increase their religious investment relative to individuals associated with non-megachurches. Data from the FACT2000 survey provide evidence that megachurches employ groups to help subsidize individuals’ religious investment, and that the resulting religious capital rises among members of megachurches relative to members of non-megachurches.

Handbook of Megachurches, Feb 6, 2020

This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 license. Marc von ... more This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 license. Marc von der Ruhr-9789004412927

Atlantic Economic Journal

Though the recent literature offers intuitively appealing bases for, and evidence of a linkage am... more Though the recent literature offers intuitively appealing bases for, and evidence of a linkage among religious beliefs, religious participation and economic outcomes, evidence on a relationship between religion and trust is mixed. By allowing for an attendance effect, disaggregating Protestant denominations, and using a more extensive data set, probit models of the General Social Survey (GSS), 1975 through 2000, show that Black Protestants, Pentecostals, fundamentalist Protestants, and Catholics, trust others less than individuals who do not claim a preference for a particular denomination. For conservative denominations the effect of religion is though affiliation not attendance. In contrast, liberal Protestants trust others more and this effect is reinforced by attendance. The impact of religion on moderate Protestants is only through attendance, as frequency of attendance increases trust of others while the denomination effect is insignificant.

Working Papers and Research, 2005

Working Papers and Research, 2008

Despite their non-traditional approach, megachurches have grown significantly in the United State... more Despite their non-traditional approach, megachurches have grown significantly in the United States since 1980. This paper constructs a model of religious investment to examine how "seeker"-oriented megachurches succeed in attracting and retaining new members. The model illustrates that megachurches have been able to encourage additional religious investment through group-based activities. Hence, these activities may be viewed as a subsidy for religious investment. As a result, individuals associated with megachurches increase their religious investment relative to individuals associated with non-megachurches. Data from the FACT2000 survey provide evidence that megachurches employ groups to help subsidize individuals' religious investment, and that the resulting religious capital rises among members of megachurches relative to members of non-megachurches.

This paper describes the financing patterns, equity flows, reinvested earnings, and inter-company... more This paper describes the financing patterns, equity flows, reinvested earnings, and inter-company debt, used by U.S. MNEs. A gravity model is used to explain bilateral differences in these financing patterns, extending it to capture measures of financial depth, changes in the U.S. tax code, the presence and age of tax treaties, and tax differentials. We show that financial depth in the host market is associated with higher levels of equity flows and retained earnings, and that tax treaties affect U.S. MNEs by reducing the reliance on reinvested earnings to finance FDI in favor of increased equity flows to finance FDI.