This paper presents the first systematic attempt by economists to analyze the determinants of individuals' participation in religious activities. A multiperiod utility-maximizing model of household behavior is developed which includes among its implications the shape of a household's life-cycle religious-participation profile and the division of religious participation between husband and wife. The theory is empirically tested using statewide church-membership data and survey data on individuals' frequency of church attendance. The paper concludes by discussing several extensions of the model which lead to additional potentially testable hypotheses.

Distributional implications of current models, 159. — Reformulation, 162. — Shadow pricing with budget constraints, 163. — Conclusion, 164.

I. Specification of an objective function, 497. — II. Ranking a set of feasible programs, 499. — Conclusion, 501.