Does Culture Matter for Development?

Economists have either avoided or struggled with the concept of culture and its role in economic development. Although a few theoretical works -- and even fewer empirical studies -- have appeared in the past decades, this paper tries to build on a...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Lopez-Claros, Augusto, Perotti, Valeria
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank Group, Washington, DC 2014
Subjects:	ACCESS TO INFORMATION AGRICULTURE ANTHROPOLOGIST ANTHROPOLOGISTS ANTHROPOLOGY ARCHIVES ART AUTONOMY BALANCE OF PAYMENTS BASIC BELIEFS CAPITALISM CENTRAL PLANNING CENTRALIZATION CITIES CIVILIZATION CIVILIZATIONS COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE COMPARATIVE ECONOMICS COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE COMPETITIVENESS CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK CULTURAL ATTRIBUTES CULTURAL CHANGE CULTURAL DIFFERENCES CULTURAL ECOLOGY CULTURAL EXCHANGE CULTURAL FACTORS CULTURAL HERITAGE CULTURAL IDENTITY CULTURAL INTEGRATION CULTURAL LANDSCAPE CULTURAL NORMS CULTURE IN DEVELOPMENT CULTURES CUSTOM CUSTOMS DAILY LIFE DEBT DECISION MAKING DEPENDENCE DEVELOPED COUNTRIES DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DEVELOPMENT POLICY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY DISCOURSE DISCRIMINATION DISTRICTS DIVERSITY DIVISION OF LABOR ECOLOGY ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY ECONOMIC EXCHANGE ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC HISTORIANS ECONOMIC HISTORY ECONOMIC INCENTIVES ECONOMIC OUTCOMES ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE ECONOMIC POLICIES ECONOMIC POWER ECONOMIC THEORIES ECONOMIC THEORY ECONOMIES OF SCALE EDUCATED POPULATIONS EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE EMPIRICAL RESEARCH EMPIRICAL STUDIES ENVIRONMENTS ETHICS ETHNICITY EXPORTS EXTENDED FAMILY FOLKLORE GDP GDP PER CAPITA GENDER GEOGRAPHY GLOBAL CULTURE GOVERNMENT POLICIES HISTORIANS HISTORICAL RECORDS HOUSEHOLDS HUMAN BEHAVIOR HUMAN CAPITAL HUMAN SOCIETIES INDUSTRIALIZATION INHERITANCE INTERNATIONAL TRADE KINSHIP LABOR FORCE LABOR PRODUCTIVITY LAND ECONOMICS LANGUAGES LEARNING LITERATURE LIVING ARRANGEMENTS MACROECONOMICS MAGIC MARRIAGES MIDDLE AGES MIGRATION MIGRATIONS MINING MISSIONARIES MULTICULTURALISM MUSIC NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT NATURAL RESOURCES NUCLEAR FAMILIES OPEN MARKETS OPPORTUNITY COSTS PERCEPTIONS PHYSIOLOGY POLICY MAKERS POLITICAL ECONOMY POPULATION DYNAMICS POWER PRIVATE PROPERTY PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH PROFIT SEEKING PROPERTY RIGHTS PUBERTY REGRESSION ANALYSIS RELIGION RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATION RESTORATION RITES RITUAL SCHOOLS SECURE PROPERTY RIGHTS SLAVERY SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT SOCIAL FACTORS SOCIAL GROUPS SOCIAL NETWORKS SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY SOCIAL STRUCTURES SOCIETY SOCIOLOGISTS SOCIOLOGY SPECIALIZATION SPORTS STONE SUSTAINABLE GROWTH SYMBOLS TABOOS TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE TEXTILE FACTORIES TEXTILE MILLS TEXTILES TRADITION TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUES TRADITIONS TRAVELS WAGE DIFFERENTIALS WAGES WEALTH
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/11/20354250/culture-matter-development http://hdl.handle.net/10986/20624

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Summary:	Economists have either avoided or struggled with the concept of culture and its role in economic development. Although a few theoretical works -- and even fewer empirical studies -- have appeared in the past decades, this paper tries to build on a multidisciplinary approach to review the evidence on whether and how culture matters for development. First, the paper reviews available definitions of culture and illustrates ways in which culture can change and create favorable conditions for economic development. Second, the paper discusses the challenges of separating the effect of culture from other drivers of human behavior such as incentives, the availability of information, or climate. Finally, the paper argues that globalization has led to the emergence of a set of progressive values that are common cultural traits of all developed economies.

Does Culture Matter for Development?

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