Cultural Values Predict Subsequent Economic Growth

Abstract

The relationship between cultural values and economic growth has been the subject of much controversy. A few studies have shown statistical correlations between measurements of national cultural values and previous growth but this is a dubious approach to the question of whether culture is the cause or the result of such growth. This study uses World Values Survey items from 1998 to 1999 and demonstrates that some values form a nation-level cultural dimension which predicts subsequent, and explains previous, economic growth across more than 70 countries. The dimension contrasts the importance of thrift versus the importance of leisure and good human relationships. Its nature is in full accordance with views of development economists who describe modern economic development as, among other things, a function of saving, investment, and hard work.

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