Cultural attributes, national saving and economic outcomes

Abstract

Economic and financial researchers rarely use culture as an exploratory variable for economic and financial events. This paper explores the role of cultural attributes in a nation's welfare. First, we use a theoretical model to show that the higher a nation's long term orientation, the more it chooses to save. We also show that nations with higher long term orientation enjoy a higher level of welfare. We complement the theoretical model with empirical analysis using a panel of data for 86 countries, from 1999 to 2009. The results from the empirical study support our proposition that nations with a higher long term orientation have higher saving rates.