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Human Development and National Culture: A Multivariate Exploration

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Abstract

We examine the relationship between different aspects of human development and Hofstede’s six dimensions of national culture. Using multivariate regression and canonical correlation analysis, we show that all the dimensions of national culture except masculinity have a significant impact on human development, and that the overall strength of the association between the two groups of variables is a high positive one. In general, the direction of the influence of the national culture variables on economic growth differs from the manner they influence other variables, which reinforces the fact that economic growth does not always translate into true people-centred development. Furthermore, the national culture dimensions do not explain much of the variation in a number of health indicators.

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Notes

  1. Note that the adolescent fertility rate, in addition to being a health variable, can also be considered as a measure of gender equality.

  2. Collier and Levitsky (1997) discuss conceptual stretching in the context of democracy; they warn of the need to overcome the temptation to stretch the definition of democracy, because it could make its meaning unclear and cause it to be used inappropriately.

  3. The results of all the regressions carried out under the forward selection procedure are not provided in the paper. They are available upon request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mathematical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia

    Sharmila Gamlath

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  1. Sharmila Gamlath
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Correspondence to Sharmila Gamlath.

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The author would like to thank two anonymous referees for their valuable comments.

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Gamlath, S. Human Development and National Culture: A Multivariate Exploration. Soc Indic Res 133, 907–930 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-016-1396-0

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