Cultural Values and Economic Growth in Asia: An Empirical Analysis
Muhammad Mahroof Khan, Jianhua ZHANG, Muhammad Saim Hashmi, Mohsin Bashir

Abstract
This paper represents an attempt at measuring the impact of certain cultural factors on economic growths of selected Asian countries .For this purpose, we tested the hypothesis on whether the existence strong cultural traits have had a large impact on people’s life and thus leads to higher growth. Cultural factors are incorporated into baseline endogenous economic growth model analyzed by using the relevant data from the World Values Survey (1995-2007). This model has incorporated both cultural and economic variables and is thus superior to those models which are based on only the economic variables. Ordinary least squares regression is used to test the impact of the culture and economic factors on economic growth. We find evidence those cultural attitudes toward trust; respect and self-determination have positive impact on economic growth. However, cultural attitudes concerning obedience are found to be negatively associated with economic growth of the countries chosen for the analysis.

Full Text: PDF