Economic Action and Religion: Churches as Enterprises in Brazil

Abstract Brazil has witnessed, in recent decades, radical transformations in its religious composition, with a great proliferation of evangelical churches, which compete with each other, adopting active and mobilizing positions, typical of productive enterprises. This paper analyzes some dimensions of this reality, in light of proposals from the Rational Choice of Religion approach, which is still little explored in Brazil. Thus, it makes clear to administration scholars, still absent from the area, the importance and scale of the observed phenomenon, and also the relevance of the new theoretical framework.

摘要 近数十年来，巴西的宗教构成发生了根本性变革，福音派教会数量大幅扩张，各教会间相互竞争，并采取积极动员的运营策略，这一模式与生产性企业的典型特征高度相似。本文基于宗教理性选择理论（Rational Choice of Religion Approach）的相关框架，对这一现实状况的若干维度展开分析，而该理论在巴西的相关研究仍较为匮乏。借此，本文向尚未涉足该领域的行政学研究者阐明了这一观测现象的重要性与影响规模，同时也凸显了这一新兴理论框架的研究价值。