An investigation into the cultural and religious determinants of national competitiveness

Purpose – This paper aims to empirically investigate the effects of cultural and religious factors on national competitiveness. Design/methodology/approach – First, the concepts of national competitiveness, cultural values and religiosity are defined. Then, the relationships between these concepts are discussed and the hypotheses, variables, and theoretical models are presented. Finally, the empirical tests are conducted, the results are examined, and the theoretical/practical implications are discussed. Findings – The empirical results show that controlling for the effects of socioeconomic development, culture and religiosity still have important implications for national competitiveness. More specifically, it is found that Autonomy, Hierarchy and Mastery cultural dimensions are likely to foster national competitiveness, but Conservatism, Egalitarianism and Harmony dimensions tend to impede national competitiveness. Additionally, it is found that regardless of the religious denomination, religiosity by itself remains a very serious hindrance to national competitiveness. Research limitations/implications – This study has a limited scope as it relies on a narrow conceptualization of culture and religiosity. Moreover, this study relies solely on the national level data and fails to detect the effects of intra‐national variations. Practical implications – The findings of this study bring valuable insights into the cultural and religious determinants of national competitiveness. Considering the reliability of data and the variety of countries included, the results might have important theoretical and managerial implications. Originality/value – The chief contribution of this study resides in encompassing theories from various disciplines such as sociology, political science, anthropology, and business management to investigate the cultural and religious determinants of national competitiveness.