How do values and attitudes influence economic development?

New research indicates that diversity in cultural values has a negative association with regional economic development within European countries.

The findings indicate that a complete analysis of the interaction between culture and the economy should not be limited to an analysis of the prevalence of a selected set of cultural values, but should consider also the extent to which such values are shared by individuals.

"Polarized societies in which people disagree on key values are economically affected in a negative way because it makes coordination less efficient, resulting in lower quality of government and less public goods provision," said Dr. Sjoerd Beugelsdijk, lead author of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics study.