Eva Raiber, Aix-Marseille School of Economics

"Faith-Based Organizations as Platforms"

Abstract

We propose and develop a new model of faith-based organizations as multi-sided platforms. Platforms are intermediaries that create benefits by putting different users in contact with each other, and they typically appropriate as revenues some share of the benefits they create. We argue that faith-based organizations broadly offer two types of services: (I) A religious service that includes providing a moral narrative, giving guidance and counselling, and providing access to the divine through prayer, meditation or rituals, and (II) a networking service that allows members to connect with other members that come primarily for the religious service. These connections can be for business, finding a spouse, or sharing risk, among other benefits. By offering both types of service at the same time, faith-based organizations benefit from the spill-over effect of the religious service, which helps to screen for trustworthy network members. They can thus price the services higher than if they were offered separately. The optimal community size depends on the type of interactions the organisation fosters and how much it invests in the quality of providing the religious service, which can explain the co-existence of small and large religious communities with the same price levels. It can also explain the existence of large religious communities that charge high prices.

With Emmanuelle Auriol, Paul Seabright, and Amma Panin.

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Contact person: Jeanet Sinding Bentzen