IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/manint/v54y2014i6d10.1007_s11575-014-0205-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Nations Versus Religions: Which Has a Stronger Effect on Societal Values?

Author

Listed:
  • Michael Minkov

    (International University College)

  • Geert Hofstede

    (University of Maastricht)

Abstract

The World Values Survey allows a comparison of the relative contribution of nations versus global religions on the cultural values of nations and in-country religious groups. We analyzed the answers to 16 questions from 2005–2008 about personal values and values for children at the level of 121 in-country religious groups from 56 nations. We found that the national influence is much stronger than the influence of global religions. This results in nationally homogeneous and statistically distinguishable clusters of nominally different in-country religious groups. Global religions do not have a similar effect: their in-country variants do not group together to form homogeneous and statistically distinguishable religious clusters that cut across nations. Our study shows that, with respect to values, a shared national history is a potent cultural factor, whereas a globally shared religion is not. This is true even in recently formed nations such as those of sub-Saharan Africa.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Minkov & Geert Hofstede, 2014. "Nations Versus Religions: Which Has a Stronger Effect on Societal Values?," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 54(6), pages 801-824, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:manint:v:54:y:2014:i:6:d:10.1007_s11575-014-0205-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s11575-014-0205-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11575-014-0205-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11575-014-0205-8?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sascha O. Becker & Ludger Woessmann, 2009. "Was Weber Wrong? A Human Capital Theory of Protestant Economic History," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(2), pages 531-596.
    2. S. Brammer & Geoffrey Williams & John Zinkin, 2007. "Religion and Attitudes to Corporate Social Responsibility in a Large Cross-Country Sample," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 71(3), pages 229-243, March.
    3. Leonard Dudley & Ulrich Blum, 2001. "Religion and economic growth: was Weber right?," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 207-230.
    4. Evelyn L. Lehrer, 2004. "Religion as a Determinant of Economic and Demographic Behavior in the United States," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 30(4), pages 707-726, December.
    5. Quey-Jen Yeh & Xiaojun Xu, 2010. "The Effect of Confucian Work Ethics on Learning About Science and Technology Knowledge and Morality," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 95(1), pages 111-128, August.
    6. David A Ralston & David H Holt & Robert H Terpstra & Yu Kai-Cheng, 2008. "The impact of national culture and economic ideology on managerial work values: a study of the United States, Russia, Japan, and China," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 39(1), pages 8-26, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tausch, Arno, 2018. "The return of religious Antisemitism? The evidence from World Values Survey data," MPRA Paper 90093, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Mark F. Peterson & Mikael Søndergaard, 2014. "Countries, Within-Country Regions, and Multiple-Country Regions in International Management: A Functional, Institutional, and Critical Event (FICE) Perspective," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 54(6), pages 781-800, December.
    3. Mark F Peterson & Mikael Søndergaard & Aycan Kara, 2018. "Traversing cultural boundaries in IB: The complex relationships between explicit country and implicit cultural group boundaries at multiple levels," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(8), pages 1081-1099, October.
    4. Tausch, Arno, 2017. "Practicing Catholics and their attitudes on homosexuality. Comparative analyses, based on recent World Values Survey data," MPRA Paper 82681, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. P. Baba Gnanakumar, 2020. "Reinforcement of Brands Inspired by Faith with the Paradox of Cultural Divergence in Indian FMCG Market," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 9(1), pages 96-107, January.
    6. Tausch, Arno, 2017. "Are practicing Catholics more tolerant of other religions than the rest of the world? Comparative analyses based on World Values Survey data," MPRA Paper 82843, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    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. Pritha Dev & Blessing U. Mberu & Roland Pongou, 2016. "Ethnic Inequality: Theory and Evidence from Formal Education in Nigeria," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(4), pages 603-660.
    2. Baele, Lieven & Farooq, Moazzam & Ongena, Steven, 2014. "Of religion and redemption: Evidence from default on Islamic loans," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 141-159.
    3. M. Leroch & C. Reggiani & G. Rossini & E. Zucchelli, 2012. "Religious attitudes and home bias: theory and evidence from a pilot study," Working Papers wp811, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    4. Baele, L. & Farooq, M. & Ongena, S., 2012. "Of Religion and Redemption : Evidence from Default on Islamic Loans (Replaces CentER DP 2010-136)," Discussion Paper 2012-014, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    5. Opfinger, Matthias & Gundlach, Erich, 2011. "Religiosity as a determinant of happiness," Open Access Publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy 48360, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    6. Renneboog, L.D.R. & Spaenjers, C., 2009. "Where Angels Fear to Trade : The Role of Religion in Household Finance," Other publications TiSEM 1805b57f-17bc-414f-b553-2, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    7. Bednarik, Radek & Filipova, Lenka, 2009. "The role of religion and political regime for human capital and economic development," MPRA Paper 14556, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Dominik Aaken & Florian Buchner, 2020. "Religion and CSR: a systematic literature review," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 90(5), pages 917-945, June.
    9. Alex Annan Abakah, 2020. "Local religious beliefs and municipal bond market outcomes," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 49(2), pages 447-471, June.
    10. Baele, L. & Farooq, M. & Ongena, S., 2012. "Of Religion and Redemption : Evidence from Default on Islamic Loans (Replaces EBC DP 2010-032)," Other publications TiSEM a4c6f21b-b35f-4fec-94cc-6, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    11. Davide Cantoni, 2015. "The Economic Effects Of The Protestant Reformation: Testing The Weber Hypothesis In The German Lands," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 561-598, August.
    12. Martin A. Leroch & Carlo Reggiani & Gianpaolo Rossini & Eugenio Zucchelli, 2014. "Religious Attitudes and Home Bias: Theory and New Evidence from Primary Data," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(2), pages 401-414, May.
    13. Larbi Alaoui & Alvaro Sandroni, 2013. "Predestination and the Protestant ethic," Economics Working Papers 1350, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    14. Stergios Leventis & Emmanouil Dedoulis & Omneya Abdelsalam, 2018. "The Impact of Religiosity on Audit Pricing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(1), pages 53-78, March.
    15. Dev, Pritha & Mberu, Blessing & Pongou, Roland, 2013. "Communitarianism, Oppositional Cultures, and Human Capital Contagion: Theory and Evidence from Formal versus Koranic Education," MPRA Paper 46234, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 15 Apr 2013.
    16. David de la Croix & Clara Delavallade, 2018. "Religions, Fertility, And Growth In Southeast Asia," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 59(2), pages 907-946, May.
    17. Sheremeta, Roman & Smith, Vernon, 2017. "The Impact of the Reformation on the Economic Development of Western Europe," MPRA Paper 87220, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Cornelius A. Rietveld & Brigitte Hoogendoorn, 2022. "The mediating role of values in the relationship between religion and entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1309-1335, March.
    19. Vladimír Holý & Tomáš Evan, 2022. "The role of a nation’s culture in the country’s governance: Stochastic frontier analysis," Central European Journal of Operations Research, Springer;Slovak Society for Operations Research;Hungarian Operational Research Society;Czech Society for Operations Research;Österr. Gesellschaft für Operations Research (ÖGOR);Slovenian Society Informatika - Section for Operational Research;Croatian Operational Research Society, vol. 30(2), pages 507-520, June.
    20. Pavol Minárik, 2013. "Ekonomie náboženství a její relevance pro ekonomy ve střední Evropě [Economics of Religion and its Relevance for Economists in Central Europe]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2013(5), pages 691-704.

    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:spr:manint:v:54:y:2014:i:6:d:10.1007_s11575-014-0205-8. 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.