Religiosity and Wage Earnings in Post-Soviet Russia

Abstract

This article empirically studies the relationship between religiosity, to be a believer or not and to what extent, and wage earnings in post-Soviet Russia. Mincer equations are estimated adding religious affiliation and religiosity as explanatory variables and using dynamic specifications, controlling for endogeneity and time-invariant independent variables. The empirical strategy includes working age individuals (eighteen to sixty) and uses longitudinal data (2000–2017). The results suggest that male believers suffer a wage penalty, about 7%. Moreover, on average, Muslims obtain lower earnings than do individuals from other religious affiliations, roughly 21% less income; for female Muslims this figure is even higher, about 38%. Nonetheless, analysing younger individuals (eighteen to forty-two), the findings are slightly different. In this case, female believers suffer a wage penalty, about 5%. The findings are robust under different specifications, controlling for education, work experience, civil status, migration background, ethnicity, city size, occupation, and macroeconomic conditions.