IN MOST Muslim countries life slows down during Ramadan, the holy month in which the faithful fast during daylight hours. Many people nap during the day and feast at night. Working hours are reduced. Businesses open later and close earlier. In general, less gets done.
There is much anecdotal evidence that Ramadan, which ends on July 5th, has a negative economic effect on Muslim countries. But until recently, no one had properly studied the question. “There is a sensitivity when it comes to Islam,” says Rumy Hasan of the University of Sussex in Britain. But the holy month’s features actually make it easier to study.
The Islamic calendar is lunar, so Ramadan rotates through the seasons. In Egypt, for example, the holy month now falls during the long days of summer. But in 15 years, it will occur in winter, when the days—and, therefore, the fasts—are shorter. The opposite is true for Muslims in southern locales. This cycle, unrelated to other factors that might affect the economy, “presents a kind of naturally occurring experiment”, wrote Filipe R. Campante and David H. Yanagizawa-Drott of Harvard University in the New York Times. “Religious practice is precisely varied and everything else is left in place.”
In a study published last year in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, Messrs...Continue reading
Source: Middle East and Africa http://ift.tt/292ULrZ
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