Journal of Business Ethics

, Volume 80, Issue 4, pp 791–806 | Cite as

Values Versus Regulations: How Culture Plays Its Role

Article

Abstract

This study examines the impact of culture on regulation and corruption. Our empirical results suggest that cultural values have significant effects on countries’ regulatory policies, levels of corruption, and economic development. Contrary to the conclusions drawn by others, this study shows no significant relationship between the regulatory policies of countries and their perceived levels of corruption. Thus, evidence of the “public choice view” toward entry regulation derived in related studies seems to be at least attenuated.

Keywords

regulation entry culture economic development corruption time 

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Notes

Acknowledgement

We thank the NSFC (70372032) and the program for new century excellent talents in University of China (NCET-06-0804) for their support on this research.

References

  1. Alam, M. S.: 1995, ‹A Theory of Limits on Corruption and Some Applications’, Kyklos 48, 419–435.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Arentsen, M. J. and R. W. Kunneke: 2001, ‹Dutch Negotiated Regulation: Conceptualization and Illustration’, in A. Midttum and E. Svindland (eds.), Approaches and Dilemmas in Economic Regulation, Politics, Economics and Dynamics (Palgrave Publishers Limited, London), pp. 27–54.Google Scholar
  3. Axinn, C. N., M. E. Blair, A. Heorhiadi and S. V. Thach: 2004, ‹Comparing Ethical Ideologies Across Cultures’, Journal of Business Ethics 54, 103–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Baldwin, R., C. Scott and C. Hood: 1998, A Reader on Regulation (Oxford University Press, Oxford).Google Scholar
  5. Banfield, E. C.: 1975, ‹Corruption as a Feature of Government Organization’, Journal of Law and Economics 43, 587–605.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Becker, G. B.: 1986, ‹The Public Interest Hypothesis Revisited: A New Test of Peltzman’s Theory of Regulation’, Public Choice 59, 223–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Bollen, K. A.: 1989, Structural Equations with Latent Variables (John Wiley and Sons, New York).Google Scholar
  8. Brien, A.: 1998, ‹Professional Ethics and the Culture of Trust’, Journal of Business Ethics 17, 391–409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Brunetti, A., G. Kisunko, and B. Weder: 1997, How Businesses See Government: Responses from Private Sector Surveys in 69 Countries (The World Bank, Washington, DC).Google Scholar
  10. Byrne, B. M.: 1998, Structural Equation Modeling with LISREL, PRELIS, and SIMPLIS: Basic Conception, Application, and Programming (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc., Mahway, NJ).Google Scholar
  11. Cateora, P. R. and J. L. Graham: 2004, International Marketing, 12th Edition (McGraw-Hill, Burr Ridge, IL).Google Scholar
  12. Central Intelligence Agency: 2000, The World FactBook 2000 (Brasseys Inc., Washingon, DC).Google Scholar
  13. Chick, M.: 1990, ‹Politics, Information and the Defense of Market Power’, in C. Martin (ed.), Governments, Industries and Markets: Aspects of Governments- Industry Relations in the UK, Japan, West Germany and the USA since 1945 (Edward Elgar, Hants), pp. 1–9.Google Scholar
  14. Christie, P. M. J., I. G. Kwon, P. A. Stoeberl and R. Baumhart: 2003, ‹A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Ethical Attitudes of Business Managers: India, Korea, and the United States’, Journal of Business Ethics 46, 263–287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. Curran, P. J., S. G. West and J. F. Finch: 1996, ‹The Robustness of Test Statistics to Nonnormality and Specification Error in Confirmatory Factor Analysis’, Psychological Methods 1, 16–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Davis, J. H. and J. A. Ruhe: 2003, ‹Perceptions of Country Corruption: Antecedents and Outcomes’, Journal of Business Ethics 43, 275–288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. DeLorme, C. D. Jr., D. R. Kamerschen and H. G. Thompson: 1994, ‹Pricing in the Nuclear Power Industry: Public or Private Interest?’, Public Choice 73, 385–396.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Djankov, S., R. La Porta, F. Lopez-De-Silanes and A. Shleifer: 2002, ‹The Regulation of Entry’, Quarterly Journal of Economics 107, 1–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Eads, G. C.: 1983, ‹Airline Competitive Conduct is a Less Regulated Environment: Implications for Antitrust’, Antitrust Bulletin 28, 159–185.Google Scholar
  20. Edwards, L. N. and F. R. Edwards: 1973, ‹Measuring the Effectiveness of Regulation: the Case of Bank Entry Regulation’, Journal of Law and Economics 16, 445–460.Google Scholar
  21. Fisher, F. M.: 1979, ‹Diagnosing Monopoly’, Quarterly Review of Economics and Business 19, 7–33.Google Scholar
  22. Friedman, L. M.: 1969, ‹Legal Culture and Social Development’, Law and Society Review 4, 19–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. Getz, K. A. and R. J. Volkema: 2001, ‹Culture, Perceived Corruption, and Economics’. Business and Society 40, 7–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. Gopalan, S. and N. Thomson: 2003, ‹National Cultures, Information Search Behaviors and the Attribution Process of Cross-National Managers: A Conceptual Framework’, Teaching Business Ethics 7(3), 313–328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Graham, J. L., A. T. Mintu and W. Rodgers: 1994, ‹Explorations of Negotiation Behaviors in Ten Foreign Cultures Using a Model Developed in the United States’, Management Science 40, 74–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Grendstad, G. and P. Selle: 1995, ‹Cultural Theory and New Institutionalism’, Journal of Theoretical Politics 7, 5–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. Gwartney, J. and R. Lawson: 2000, Economic Freedom of the World: 2000 Annual Report (The Fraser Institute, Vancouver).Google Scholar
  28. Hall, E. T.: 1983, The Dance of Life (Anchor Press/Doubleday, Garden City, NY).Google Scholar
  29. Hall, E. T.: 1976, Beyond Culture (Anchor Press/Doubleday, Garden City, NY).Google Scholar
  30. Hall, E. T.: 1959, The Silent Language (Anchor Press/Doubleday, Garden City, NY).Google Scholar
  31. Hall, E.T.: 1960, ‹The Silent Language in Overseas Business’, Harvard Business Review, May–June, 87–96.Google Scholar
  32. Hancher, L. and M. Moran: 1989, ‹Organizing Regulatory Space’, in L. Hancher and M. Moran (eds.), Capitalism, Culture and Regulation (Oxford University Press, Oxford), pp. 271–299.Google Scholar
  33. Hayward, J.: 1983, Governing France: The One and Indivisible Republic, 2nd Edition (Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London).Google Scholar
  34. Hodgson, J. D., Y. Sano and J. L. Graham: 2000, Doing Business with the New Japan (Rowman & Littlefield, Boulder, CO).Google Scholar
  35. Hofstede, G.: 1980, Culture’s Consequence: International Differences in Work-related Values (SAGE Publication, Thousand Oaks, CA).Google Scholar
  36. Hofstede, G.: 1991, Culture and Organizations: Software of the Mind. (McGraw-Hill, New York).Google Scholar
  37. Hofstede, G.: 2001, Culture and Organizations: Comparing Values, Behavior, and Organizational across Nations, 2nd edition (SAGE Publication, Thousand Oaks, CA).Google Scholar
  38. Hotelling, H.: 1938, ‹The General Welfare in Relation to Problems of Taxation and of Railways and Utility Rates’, Econometrica 63, 242–269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  39. Houston, R. and J. L. Graham: 2001, ‹Culture and Corruption in International Markets: Implications for Policy Makers and Managers’, Consumption, Markets and Culture 4, 315–343.Google Scholar
  40. Husted, B. W.: 1999, ‹Wealth, Culture and Corruption’, Journal of International Business Studies 30, 339–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  41. Kaserman, D. L., J. W. Mayo and P. L. Pacey: 1993, ‹The Political Economy of Deregulation: The Case of Intrastate Long Distance’, Journal of Regulatory Economics 5, 49–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  42. Kaufmann, D., A. Kraay, and P. Zoido-Lobaton: 1999, ‹Governance Matters’, http://info.worldbank.org/governance, accessed 12 November 2003.Google Scholar
  43. Knack, S. and O. Azfar: 2001, ‹Trade Intensity, Country Size and Corruption’, Economics of Governance 4, 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  44. Levine, R.: 1997, ‹The Pace of Life in 31 Countries’, American Demographics 19, 20–29.Google Scholar
  45. Macrae, J.: 1982, ‹Underdevelopment and the Economics of Corruption: A Game Theory Approach’, World Development 10, 677–687.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  46. McChesney, F. S.: 1997, Money for Nothing: Politicians, Rent Extraction and Political Extortion (Harvard University Press, Cambridge).Google Scholar
  47. Nicoletti, G.: 2001, ‹Cross-Country Regulation Patterns and Their Implications for Macroeconomic and Sectional Performance’, in G. Amato and L. L. Laudari (eds.), The Anticompetitive Impact of Regulation (Edward Elgar Publishing Limited), pp. 278–313.Google Scholar
  48. Ogus, A.: 1995, ‹Rethinking Self-regulation’, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 15, 97–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  49. Pavarala, V.: 1996, Interpreting Corruption, Elite Perspectives in India (Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks and New Delhi).Google Scholar
  50. Peltzman, S.: 1965, ‹Entry into Commercial Banking’, Journal of Law and Economics 8, 11–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  51. Pigou, A. C.: 1960, The Economics of Welfare, 4th edition (Macmillan and Co., London).Google Scholar
  52. Posner, R. A.: 1975, ‹The Social Costs of the Monopoly and Regulation’, Journal of Political Economy 83, 807–828.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  53. Reich, N.: 1984, ‹The Regulatory Crisis: Does It Exist and Can It Be Solved? Some Comparative Remarks on the Situation of Social Regulation in the USA and in the European Economic Community’, Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 2, 177–197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  54. Roth, M. S.: 1995, ‹The Effects of Culture and Socioeconomics on the Performance of Global Brand Strategies’, Journal of Marketing Research 32, 163–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  55. Sanyal, R.: 2005, ‹Determinants of Bribery in International Business: The Cultural and Economic Factors’, Journal of Business Ethics 59, 139–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  56. Scheines, R.: 1997, ‹An Introduction to Causal Inference’, in V. R. McKim and S. P. Turner (eds.), Causality in Crisis? Statistical Methods and the Search for Causal Knowledge in the Social Science (University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, IN), pp. 185–199.Google Scholar
  57. Schwab, K., M. E. Porter, J. D. Sachs and World Economic Forum: 1999 and 2002, The Global Competitiveness Report 2001–2002 (Oxford University Press, Oxford).Google Scholar
  58. Schwartz, M. and M. Thompson: 1990, Divided We Stand: Redefining Politics, Technology and Social Choice (Harvester Wheatsheaf Publisher, Hemel Hepstedd).Google Scholar
  59. Shaked, A. and J. Sutton: 1981, ‹The Self-regulation Profession’, Review of Economic Studies 48, 217–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  60. Shleifer, A. and R. W. Vishny: 1993, ‹Corruption’, Quarterly Journal of Economics 103, 599–617.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  61. Sims, R. L. and A. E. Gegez: 2004, ‹Attitudes Towards Business Ethics: A Five Nation Comparative Study’, Journal of Business Ethics 50, 253–265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  62. Smith, A.: 1776, 1994, The Wealth of Nations (Modern Library, New York).Google Scholar
  63. Smith, A. and E. C. Hume: 2005, ‹Linking Culture and Ethics: A Comparison of Accountants’ Ethical Belief Systems in the Individualism/Collectivism and Power Distance Contexts’, Journal of Business Ethics 62, 209–220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  64. Stigler, G. J. and C. Fridland: 1962, ‹What Can Regulators Regulate? The Case of Electricity’, Journal of Law and Economics 5, 1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  65. Thompson, M., R. Ellis, and A. Wildavsky: 1990, Cultural Theory (Westview Press, Boulder, CO).Google Scholar
  66. Transparency International: 1999, ‹Corruption Perceptions Index 1999’, http://www.transparency.org, accessed 10 November 2003.Google Scholar
  67. Triandis, H.C.: 1995, Individualism & Collectivism (Westview Press, Boulder, CO).Google Scholar
  68. Vitell, S. J., S. L. Nwachukwu and J. H. Barnes 1993, ‹The Effects of Culture on Ethical Decision-Making: An Application of Hofstede’s Typology’. Journal of Business Ethics 12, 753–760.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  69. van Waarden, F.: 1992, ‹The Historical Institutionalization of Typical National Patterns in Policy Networks between State and Industry: A Comparison of the USA and the Netherlands’, European Journal of Political Research 21, 131–163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  70. West, J. and J. L. Graham: 2004, ‹A Linguistic-Based Measures of Cultural Distance and Its Relationship to Managerial Values’, Management International Review 4(3), 239–260.Google Scholar
  71. Williamson, P.: 1985, Varieties of Corporatism: A Conceptual Discussion (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge).Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.DallasUSA

Personalised recommendations