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National culture, entrepreneurship and economic development: different patterns across the European Union

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Abstract

The aim of this paper is double. Firstly, it contributes to identifying the specific role of national culture as a variable that helps explain the level of economic development and reinforces the effect of entrepreneurship on the income level. Secondly, a deeper understanding of these relations in the case of the European Union is sought. In this study, data from two different sources have been used. The Schwartz Value Survey measures seven cultural orientations that are then grouped into three bipolar dimensions (embeddedness vs. autonomy, hierarchy vs. egalitarianism and mastery vs. harmony). The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor provides information regarding entrepreneurial activity. Using linear regression analysis, cultural and entrepreneurial variables are able to classify countries according to their development level, explaining over 60 % of the variance in Gross Domestic Product per capita. The role of culture is complex, with geographical elements being significantly relevant. In the case of Europe, some common elements conform what could be called “a European culture”: autonomy and egalitarianism clearly predominate over embeddedness and hierarchy, while harmony tends to prevail over mastery. Nevertheless, four well-defined groups of countries within the European Union emerge. Central and Northern Europe is closer to this European stereotypical culture, while English-speaking countries, Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean area exhibit their own differentiating elements each. These differences also exist with regard to entrepreneurial activity (overall Total Entrepreneurial Activity, necessity and opportunity-driven activity). Each of the four regional entrepreneurial cultures is characterized by a different entrepreneurial dynamics that may be plausibly explained by culture and income.

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Notes

  1. Eurostat: Statistic in focus 64/2011.

  2. Available from the GEM consortium web page: http://www.gemconsortium.org/key-indicators.

  3. Autonomy being the average of intellectual and affective autonomy.

  4. Total TEA-opportunity is negatively related to income, but the ratio of opportunity to necessity exhibits a positive relationship. In this sample, the Pearson´s correlation between the ratio TEA-opportunity/Necessity and GDPpc is positive and significant (0.672**).

  5. More precisely, the effect in Continental Europe is the addition of both coefficients (β Mas-Har + β Mas-Har-Europe). Therefore, in Model 3, the effect of Mas-Har for these European countries is 0.060 (= 0.288–0.228), while in Models 4 and 5 is, respectively, 0.094 (= 0.321–0.227) and 0.033 (= 0.283–0.250).

  6. In this sense, it is interesting to note that, when 5 groups are forced, the only difference is that the new group includes France, Italy and Spain. This would confirm the existence of a Center-North group of countries, and a Mediterranean one. The large Latin countries would share characteristics of both (Spain being closer to the southern group, while Italy and France closer to the northern one). Both alternatives are supported by the ANOVA test, but the 4-cluster solution is more parsimonious. For that reason, it has been chosen.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are most grateful to the Editors and to three anonymous reviewers, whose comments and suggestions have contributed to improve the quality of this paper.

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  1. Department of Applied Economics, University of Seville, Seville, Spain

    Francisco Liñán & José Fernandez-Serrano

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  1. Francisco Liñán
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Correspondence to Francisco Liñán.

Appendix: List of countries (in brackets, years in which the SVS data were obtained)

Appendix: List of countries (in brackets, years in which the SVS data were obtained)

Argentina (1993, 1995), Australia (1988, 1990, 1992, 1996, 1999), Austria (1996, 1998), Belgium (1991, 1995, 2002), Bolivia (1993), Bosnia-Herzegovina (2002), Brazil (1989, 1991, 1993, 1995), Canada (1992, 2001, 2002), Chile (1994, 1995, 1997, 1998), China (1988, 1989, 1995), Costa Rica (2002, 2003), Croatia (2002), Denmark (1991, 1995), Egypt (2004), Finland (1989, 1991–1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001), France 1991, 1994–1996, 1998), Germany (1989–1991, 1994, 1996), Ghana (1995), Greece (1989, 1996), Hong Kong (1988, 1996, 2001), Hungary (1990, 1995), India (1991, 1992), Indonesia (1992, 1995), Iran (2000), Ireland (1995, 2000), Israel (1989, 1990, 1994, 1995, 1996), Italy (1989, 1991, 1997, 2002), Japan (1989, 1990), Jordan (2002), Latvia (1998), Malaysia (1989, 2003), Mexico (1990, 1996), Netherlands 1988, 1996, 1998), New Zealand (1988, 1994, 1998), Norway (1994), Peru (1996, 2002, 2003), Philippines (1996, 1997, 2000), Poland (1988, 1990, 1997, 2003), Portugal (1989, 1993), Romania (1996), Russia (1993, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2002), Singapore (1991, 1995, 1997), Slovenia (1992), South Africa (1992, 1994, 1996, 2003), South Korea (1993, 2002), Spain (1988, 1996, 2002), Sweden (1992–1994, 1998), Switzerland (1990, 1996), Taiwan (1988, 1993, 1994), Thailand (2005), Turkey (1990, 1993, 1995, 2000), Uganda (1995), United Kingdom (1990, 1995), USA (1988, 1989, 1991–1996, 2000), Venezuela (1989, 1991, 1993, 1994), Yemen (2003).

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Liñán, F., Fernandez-Serrano, J. National culture, entrepreneurship and economic development: different patterns across the European Union. Small Bus Econ 42, 685–701 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-013-9520-x

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