This paper studies the role of culture in shaping unemployment outcomes. The empirical analysis is based on local … political jurisdictions. Local contrasts across the language border identify the role of culture for unemployment. Our findings … indicate that differences in culture explain differences in unemployment duration on the order of 20 %. Moreover, we find that …

cultural predispositions for financial behavior; and convergence of behavior over time in the face of common institutions, even … for countries with great cultural distance from the country that created those institutions. …

innovation in an individualist culture. This cultural effect may offset the negative effects of bad institutions on growth … robust even after controlling for the effect of institutions and other factors. We also provide evidence of a two-way causal … effect between culture and institutions. …

How and why does distant political and economic history shape the functioning of current institutions? This paper … (as opposed to limited) morality are widespread in societies that were ruled by non-despotic political institutions in the … distant past. Second, well functioning institutions are often observed in countries or regions where individual values are …