Columns 5 and 6 of Table 4 show the results when the variables based on belief in
hell and heaven are entered simultaneously into the growth equations, along with the
monthly attendance variable. The two belief variables have a high sample correlation,
0.90, so our expectation was that it would be difficult to distinguish the two in growth
regressions.
38
However, when the religion shares
are excluded from the growth equations
in column 5, the results favor belief in hell as a determinant of growth. The estimated
coefficient is significantly positive, 0.0104 (0.0040), whereas that for heaven is close to
zero, -0.0012 (0.0040). However, a test for equality of the two coefficients has a high p-