The Cost of Community

Communities solve collective action problems through dense social ties. But what happens when the collective good requires limiting interaction itself? Linking 500,000 Swiss death notices to ancestral municipalities along Reformation-era boundaries, I find that Catholic ancestry predicts 15% higher COVID-19 excess mortality—even among those with no religious markers. A preregistered survey shows no differential risk perceptions; a pre-pandemic heatwave shows no ancestry gap. The evidence points to denser community networks: Catholic descendants display significantly more organizational affiliations. Religious institutions transmitted forms of social organization—not just beliefs—with effects that persist long after faith fades.