Does Culture Matter?

Fernández, Raquel

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1663162

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Does Culture Matter?

IZA Discussion Paper No. 5122

45 Pages Posted: 24 Aug 2010

See all articles by Raquel Fernández

Raquel Fernández

New York University - Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

There are 3 versions of this paper

Abstract

This paper reviews the literature on culture and economics, focusing primarily on the epidemiological approach. The epidemiological approach studies the variation in outcomes across different immigrant groups residing in the same country. Immigrants presumably differ in their cultures but share a common institutional and economic environment. This allows one to separate the effect of culture from the original economic and institutional environment. This approach has been used to study a variety of issues, including female labor force participation, fertility, labor market regulation, redistribution, growth, and financial development among others.

Keywords: culture, beliefs, preferences, norms

JEL Classification: O10, Z1, D01, D1

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Fernández, Raquel, Does Culture Matter?. IZA Discussion Paper No. 5122, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1663162 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1663162