Does culture have a causal effect on economic development? The data on European regions suggest that it does. Culture … individual self-determination. To isolate the exogenous variation in culture, I rely on two historical variables used as … level. The exogenous component of culture due to history is strongly correlated with current regional economic development …

The impact of culture on non-kin cooperation has been singled out as critical for economic activity. However, causal … evidence of culture’s influence on cooperation remains scant. In this paper we provide such evidence, focusing on two key … components of culture: preferences and beliefs. Adopting the view that culture is one aspect of an individual’s multi …

This paper studies the role of culture in shaping unemployment outcomes. The empirical analysis is based on local … political jurisdictions. Local contrasts across the language border identify the role of culture for unemployment. Our findings … indicate that differences in culture explain differences in unemployment duration on the order of 20 %. Moreover, we find that …

entrepreneurial elite, resulting in economic policy and institutions which are more conducive to entrepreneurship and productivity …