We construct an endogenous growth model that includes a cultural variable along the dimension of individualism …-collectivism. The model predicts that more individualism leads to more innovation because of the social rewards associated with …. Collectivism leads to efficiency gains relative to individualism, but these gains are static, unlike the dynamic effect of …

Rugged individualism—the combination of individualism and anti-statism—is a prominent feature of American culture with … deep roots in the country's history of frontier settlement. Today, rugged individualism is more prevalent in counties with … greater total frontier experience (TFE) during the era of westward expansion. While individualism may be conducive to …

Jackson Turner famously argued that the American frontier fostered individualism. We investigate the Frontier Thesis and … demographics and greater individualism. Long after the closing of the frontier, counties with greater TFE exhibit more pervasive … individualism and opposition to redistribution. This pattern cuts across known divides in the U.S., including urban–rural and north …

We study the correlation between a belief concerning individualism and a measure of luck in the US during the period … individualism. We provide three short models that help interpret this correlation. One implication of this finding is that societies …