Do Institutions and Culture Matter for Business Cycles?

Sumru Altug and Fabio Canova

No 627, Working Papers from Barcelona School of Economics

Abstract: We examine the relationship between institutions, culture and cyclical fluctuations for a sample of 45 European, Middle Eastern and North African countries. Better governance is associated with shorter and less severe contractions and milder expansions. Certain cultural traits, such as lack of acceptance of power distance and individualism, are also linked business cycle features. Business cycle synchronization is tightly related to similarities in the institutional environment. Mediterranean countries conform to these general tendencies.

Keywords: Business cycles; institutions; Culture; Mediterranean countries; synchronization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C32 E32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ara, nep-bec and nep-mac
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Do Institutions and Culture Matter for Business Cycles? (2014)
Working Paper: Do Institutions and Culture Matter for Business Cycles? (2013)
Working Paper: Do Institutions and Culture Matter for Business Cycles? (2012)
Working Paper: Do institutions and culture matter for business cycles? (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bge:wpaper:627

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