Abstract
Inter-religion socioeconomic differences are often attributed to religion. Instead, I trace the phenomenon in Egypt to self-selection-on-socioeconomic-status during Egypt’s conversion from Coptic Christianity to Islam. Self-selection was driven by a regressive tax-on-religion that was imposed upon the Arab Conquest of Egypt in 641 and lasted until 1856. Using novel data sources, I document that (a) the long-term trends of the tax, conversions, and the Coptic-Muslim occupational differences are consistent with the selection hypothesis, and (b) districts with a higher tax in 641- 1100 had relatively fewer, but differentially better-off, Copts in 1848-1868. I discuss why the initial selection persisted over time.
Keywords
Religion; poll tax; persistence; conversion; Middle East;
JEL codes
- N35: Asia including Middle East
- O15: Human Resources • Human Development • Income Distribution • Migration
Replaced by
Mohamed Saleh, “On the Road to Heaven: Taxation, Conversions, and the Coptic-Muslim Socioeconomic Gap in Medieval Egypt”, The Journal of Economic History, vol. 78, n. 2, June 2018, pp. 394–434.
Reference
Mohamed Saleh, “On the Road to Heaven: Taxation, Conversions, and the Coptic-Muslim Socioeconomic Gap in Medieval Egypt”, TSE Working Paper, n. 13-428, August 2013, revised November 2017.
Published in
TSE Working Paper, n. 13-428, August 2013, revised November 2017