Culture and labour productivity: An empirical investigation

Dimitrios Bakas, Pantelis Kostis and Panagiotis Petrakis

Economic Modelling, 2020, vol. 85, issue C, 233-243

Abstract: Culture is considered as one of the most powerful forces that shape human behaviour and thereby economic activity. This paper investigates the effects of culture on labour productivity and examines the cultural traits driving this relationship. Using panel data analysis, empirical evidence is provided covering a sample of 34 OECD countries over a wide period of three decades. Our empirical results suggest a significant positive relationship between the cultural background and labour productivity. The main channels of this positive impact are control and work ethic environment, while obedience has a negative impact on productivity. These findings are robust to a series of robustness checks, including alternative cultural measures, additional control variables, various country samples, and alternative specifications.

Keywords: Labour productivity; Culture; Social capital; Panel data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C23 E24 J24 O40 Z10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:85:y:2020:i:c:p:233-243

DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2019.05.020

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