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When Does Digitalization Pay Off? The Role of Culture Across the Income Distribution

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  • Bouzahzah, Mohamed

Abstract

Digitalization boosts economic performance, but its returns vary widely across countries. This paper shows that culture - measured via a World Values Survey index of effort, success, and technological openness - acts as a threshold moderator: internet usage raises log GDP per capita by 0.021 below the cultural threshold (-0.37) vs. 0.033 above it, using 55-country averages (2017-2024). Threshold regressions and quantiles reveal stronger effects in high-culture regimes and upper income quantiles, extending Haller (2024) globally with non-linearities. Results are robust across digitalization proxies (internet, fixed broadband, mobile cellular), implying infrastructure alone fails without cultural readiness for innovation.

Suggested Citation

  • Bouzahzah, Mohamed, 2026. "When Does Digitalization Pay Off? The Role of Culture Across the Income Distribution," MPRA Paper 127839, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:127839
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • Z10 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - General

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