IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jculte/v37y2013i1p109-151.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of culture on firm risk-taking: a cross-country and cross-industry analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Roxana Mihet

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of national culture on firm risk-taking, using a comprehensive dataset covering 50,000 firms in 400 industries in 51 countries. Risk-taking is found to be higher for domestic firms in countries with low uncertainty aversion, low tolerance for hierarchical relationships, and high individualism. Domestic firms in such countries tend to take substantially more risk in industries which are more informationally opaque (e.g., finance, mining, oil refinery, IT). Risk-taking by foreign firms is best explained by the cultural norms of their country of origin. These results hold even after controlling for legal constraints, insurance safety nets, and economic development. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Roxana Mihet, 2013. "Effects of culture on firm risk-taking: a cross-country and cross-industry analysis," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 37(1), pages 109-151, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jculte:v:37:y:2013:i:1:p:109-151
    DOI: 10.1007/s10824-012-9186-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10824-012-9186-2
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10824-012-9186-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Growiec, Katarzyna & Growiec, Jakub, 2010. "Trusting Only Whom You Know, Knowing Only Whom You Trust: The Joint Impact of Social Capital and Trust on Individuals' Economic Performance and Well-Being in CEE Countries," MPRA Paper 23350, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Claessens, Stijn & Djankov, Simeon & Nenova, Tatiana, 2000. "Corporate risk around the world," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2271, The World Bank.
    3. Edward L. Glaeser & Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2004. "Do Institutions Cause Growth?," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 271-303, September.
    4. Simeon Djankov & Oliver Hart & Caralee McLiesh & Andrei Shleifer, 2008. "Debt Enforcement around the World," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(6), pages 1105-1149, December.
    5. Yener Altunbas & Leonardo Gambacorta & David Marques-Ibanez, 2010. "Does monetary policy affect bank risk-taking?," BIS Working Papers 298, Bank for International Settlements.
    6. Edward L. Glaeser & Andrei Shleifer, 2002. "Legal Origins," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(4), pages 1193-1229.
    7. Andy C.W. Chui & Sheridan Titman & K.C. John Wei, 2010. "Individualism and Momentum around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(1), pages 361-392, February.
    8. Acemoglu, Daron & Zilibotti, Fabrizio, 1997. "Was Prometheus Unbound by Chance? Risk, Diversification, and Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(4), pages 709-751, August.
    9. La Porta, Rafael & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1997. "Legal Determinants of External Finance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(3), pages 1131-1150, July.
    10. Jiatao Li & J. Richard Harrison, 2008. "National Culture and the Composition and Leadership Structure of Boards of Directors," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(5), pages 375-385, September.
    11. Altunbas, Yener & Gambacorta, Leonardo & Marques-Ibanez, David, 2010. "Bank risk and monetary policy," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 121-129, September.
    12. Kiridaran Kanagaretnam & Chee Yeow Lim & Gerald J Lobo, 2011. "Effects of national culture on earnings quality of banks," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 42(6), pages 853-874, August.
    13. Bryan W Husted, 1999. "Wealth, Culture, and Corruption," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 30(2), pages 339-359, June.
    14. Teodora Paligorova, 2010. "Corporate Risk Taking and Ownership Structure," Staff Working Papers 10-3, Bank of Canada.
    15. Lee, Sang M. & Peterson, Suzanne J., 2000. "Culture, entrepreneurial orientation, and global competitiveness," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 401-416, January.
    16. Huang, Rocco R., 2008. "Tolerance for uncertainty and the growth of informationally opaque industries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 333-353, October.
    17. Doidge, Craig & Andrew Karolyi, G. & Stulz, Rene M., 2007. "Why do countries matter so much for corporate governance?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 1-39, October.
    18. Mark Grinblatt & Matti Keloharju, 2009. "Sensation Seeking, Overconfidence, and Trading Activity," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(2), pages 549-578, April.
    19. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1113-1155, December.
    20. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1998. "Financial Dependence and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 559-586, June.
    21. Stulz, Rene M. & Williamson, Rohan, 2003. "Culture, openness, and finance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(3), pages 313-349, December.
    22. Giovanni Dell'Ariccia, 2010. "Monetary Policy and Bank Risk-Taking," IMF Staff Position Notes 2010/09, International Monetary Fund.
    23. Frederic L. Pryor, 2005. "National Values and Economic Growth," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(2), pages 451-483, April.
    24. Thorsten Lehnert & Bart Frijn & Aaron Gilbert & Alireza Tourani-Rad, 2011. "Cultural Values, CEO Risk Aversion and Corporate Takeovers," LSF Research Working Paper Series 11-01, Luxembourg School of Finance, University of Luxembourg.
    25. Yener Altunbas & Leonardo Gambacorta & David Marques-Ibanez, 2014. "Does Monetary Policy Affect Bank Risk?," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 10(1), pages 95-136, March.
    26. Laeven, Luc & Levine, Ross, 2009. "Bank governance, regulation and risk taking," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 259-275, August.
    27. Licht, Amir N. & Goldschmidt, Chanan & Schwartz, Shalom H., 2005. "Culture, Law, and Corporate Governance," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 229-255, June.
    28. Paolo Giordani & Luca Zamparelli, 2011. "On robust asymmetric equilibria in asymmetric R&D-driven growth economies," Decisions in Economics and Finance, Springer;Associazione per la Matematica, vol. 34(1), pages 67-84, May.
    29. Hilary, Gilles & Hui, Kai Wai, 2009. "Does religion matter in corporate decision making in America?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(3), pages 455-473, September.
    30. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2006. "Does Culture Affect Economic Outcomes?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(2), pages 23-48, Spring.
    31. Nils Herger & Roland Hodler & Michael Lobsiger, 2008. "What Determines Financial Development? Culture, Institutions or Trade," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 144(3), pages 558-587, October.
    32. Raghuram G. Rajan, 2005. "Has financial development made the world riskier?," Proceedings - Economic Policy Symposium - Jackson Hole, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, issue Aug, pages 313-369.
    33. Chuck C Y Kwok & Solomon Tadesse, 2006. "National culture and financial systems," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(2), pages 227-247, March.
    34. Eric Van den Steen, 2004. "Rational Overoptimism (and Other Biases)," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 1141-1151, September.
    35. Smith, Clifford W. & Stulz, René M., 1985. "The Determinants of Firms' Hedging Policies," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(4), pages 391-405, December.
    36. Katarzyna Growiec & Jakub Growiec, 2011. "Trusting only whom you know, knowing only whom you trust: the joint impact of social capital and trust on individuals’ economic performance and happiness in CEE countries," NBP Working Papers 94, Narodowy Bank Polski.
    37. Joglekar, Prafulla & Paterson, Morton L., 1986. "A closer look at the returns and risks of pharmaceutical R&D," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 153-177, June.
    38. John R. Graham & Campbell R. Harvey & Hai Huang, 2009. "Investor Competence, Trading Frequency, and Home Bias," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(7), pages 1094-1106, July.
    39. Low, Angie, 2009. "Managerial risk-taking behavior and equity-based compensation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(3), pages 470-490, June.
    40. Kose John & Lubomir Litov & Bernard Yeung, 2008. "Corporate Governance and Risk‐Taking," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(4), pages 1679-1728, August.
    41. William F. Whyte, 1963. "Culture, Industrial Relations, and Economic Development: The Case of Peru," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 16(4), pages 583-594, July.
    42. Kirca, Ahmet H. & Cavusgil, S. Tamer & Hult, G. Tomas M., 2009. "The effects of national culture on market orientation: Conceptual framework and research propositions," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 111-118, April.
    43. Houston, Joel F. & Lin, Chen & Lin, Ping & Ma, Yue, 2010. "Creditor rights, information sharing, and bank risk taking," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(3), pages 485-512, June.
    44. Donald P. Morgan, 2002. "Rating Banks: Risk and Uncertainty in an Opaque Industry," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(4), pages 874-888, September.
    45. Christopher J. Robertson & Andrew Watson, 2004. "Corruption and change: the impact of foreign direct investment," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 385-396, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ashraf, Badar Nadeem & Zheng, Changjun & Arshad, Sidra, 2016. "Effects of national culture on bank risk-taking behavior," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 309-326.
    2. Andrei Shleifer & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Rafael La Porta, 2008. "The Economic Consequences of Legal Origins," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 46(2), pages 285-332, June.
    3. Boubakri, Narjess & Saffar, Walid, 2016. "Culture and externally financed firm growth," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 502-520.
    4. Pascal Gantenbein & Axel Kind & Christophe Volonté, 2019. "Individualism and Venture Capital: A Cross-Country Study," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 59(5), pages 741-777, October.
    5. Jin, Yi & Gao, Xin & Li, Donghui, 2022. "The effect of individualism on bank risk and bank Performance: An international study," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    6. Shen, Zhe & Sowahfio Sowah, Joseph & Li, Shan, 2022. "Societal trust and corporate risk-taking: International evidence," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    7. Li, Kai & Griffin, Dale & Yue, Heng & Zhao, Longkai, 2013. "How does culture influence corporate risk-taking?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 1-22.
    8. Illiashenko, Pavlo, 2019. "“Tough Guy” vs. “Cushion” hypothesis: How does individualism affect risk-taking?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 24(C).
    9. El Ghoul, Sadok & Zheng, Xiaolan, 2016. "Trade credit provision and national culture," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 475-501.
    10. Gur Aminadav & Elias Papaioannou, 2020. "Corporate Control around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 75(3), pages 1191-1246, June.
    11. Lavezzolo, Sebastián & Rodríguez-Lluesma, Carlos & Elvira, Marta M., 2018. "National culture and financial systems: The conditioning role of political context," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 60-72.
    12. Huong Dang, 2014. "How dimensions of national culture and institutional characteristics influence sovereign rating migration dynamics," ZenTra Working Papers in Transnational Studies 42 / 2014, ZenTra - Center for Transnational Studies.
    13. Beck, T.H.L., 2010. "Legal Institutions and Economic Development," Other publications TiSEM 8aa07b48-ce55-4cf6-8754-7, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    14. Ji, Jiao & Peng, Hongfeng & Sun, Hanwen & Xu, Haofeng, 2021. "Board tenure diversity, culture and firm risk: Cross-country evidence," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    15. Haq, Mamiza & Hu, Daniel & Faff, Robert & Pathan, Shams, 2018. "New evidence on national culture and bank capital structure," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 41-64.
    16. Christophe Volonté, 2015. "Culture and Corporate Governance: The Influence of Language and Religion in Switzerland," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 55(1), pages 77-118, February.
    17. Gaganis, Chrysovalantis & Hasan, Iftekhar & Papadimitri, Panagiota & Tasiou, Menelaos, 2019. "National culture and risk-taking: Evidence from the insurance industry," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 104-116.
    18. Boubakri, Narjess & Mirzaei, Ali & Samet, Anis, 2017. "National culture and bank performance: Evidence from the recent financial crisis," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 36-56.
    19. Buchen, Clemens, 2010. "Emerging economic systems in Central and Eastern Europe – a qualitative and quantitative assessment," EconStor Theses, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, number 37141, October.
    20. Wei-han Liu, 2019. "National culture effects on stock market volatility level," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 1229-1253, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    National culture; Corporate risk-taking; Industry opacity; G32; G34; L20; N20; M14; D8;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • L20 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - General
    • N20 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility
    • D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jculte:v:37:y:2013:i:1:p:109-151. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.