Contrasting Culture
Information Exchange in Negotiations: Trust Level, Trust Radius, and Harmony Concern in East Asia versus West
Jingjing Yao et al.
Academy of Management Journal, forthcoming
Abstract:
Decades of negotiation research support the theory linking trust and integrative negotiations: high levels of trust foster cooperation, which manifests in information exchange about interests and priorities, ultimately leading to insight and joint gains. In this research, we present a meta-analysis (Study 1) demonstrating that this Western-centric model may not generalize to non-Western cultures. To better understand the processes underlying integrative negotiations in East Asian cultures, we introduce two constructs to the theory. "Trust radius" refers to the width of the social circle within which people are willing to trust and cooperate. "Harmony concern" refers to the intention to cultivate and maintain a harmonious relationship that avoids conflict and discord with others. In four studies -- a survey (Study 2), two experiments (Studies 3a and 3b), and a simulation (Study 4) -- we show that trust radius, which tends to be wider in Western than in non-Western cultures, moderates the relationship between trust level and information exchange. We also find that harmony concern, rather than trust level, directly predicts information exchange in East Asian cultures but not in Western cultures. This research offers a novel perspective on the cultural differences between the West and East Asia in negotiation processes. It also highlights the theoretical distinction between trust level and trust radius in social contexts where people encounter unfamiliar counterparts.
Healthy sleep durations appear to vary across cultures
Christine Ou et al.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 13 May 2025
Abstract:
Past research finds that sleep duration is reliably linked with health yet sleep durations differ substantially between countries. We investigated whether countries with shorter sleep durations have worse health. Study 1 analyzed national sleep durations from 14 past investigations (k = 353) and found that they were not associated with national health. Study 2 collected sleep duration and health data from people from 20 different countries (N = 4,933). Average sleep durations varied substantially between countries (range = 1.57 h). A quadratic relation between sleep duration and health was found in all countries, although the turning points varied between countries. Individuals whose sleep duration was closer to their country's perceived ideal reported better health. The results suggest that the amount of sleep associated with optimal health varies across countries.
North Meets Hofstede: Effects of Individualistic Culture on Property Rights
Hoyong Jung
Kyklos, forthcoming
Abstract:
This study investigates the influence of individualistic culture on property rights protection using a dataset of 86 countries. Employing the instrumental variable estimation method, the study uncovers the causal relationship between culture and institutional dynamics, considering variations in historical pathogen prevalence, linguistic pronoun usage, and genetic distance between countries. The findings reveal that individualism has a positive and statistically significant impact on property rights. The results are robust even after controlling for variables associated with both individualism and property rights and when considering alternative dependent and independent variables. This paper effectively links two significant societal elements, namely, the cultural aspect highlighted by Geert Hofstede and the establishment of economic institutions emphasized by Douglass North.
Literary Fiction Indicates Early Modernization in China Prior to Western Influence
Ying Zhong, Valentin Thouzeau & Nicolas Baumard
Sociological Science, April 2025
Abstract:
Modernization refers to the shift from traditional values to individual autonomy and self-development, driven by economic development. Previously considered unique to Western culture, modernization has now emerged as a global phenomenon, with East Asia playing a leading role. This article explores the possibility that modernization might have occurred outside the Western world prior to Western influence. We pioneered a novel approach for understanding the evolution of Chinese values by creating a unique and comprehensive database of narrative fiction. This database includes all major Chinese narrative fiction from the Tang dynasty (7th century) to the present, encompassing 3,496 works from mainland China and 3,338 modern works from Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. It also provides a systematic comparison of ancient fictions and their modern adaptations (e.g., Journey to the West ). Our findings confirm that modernization has been underway in China since the late twentieth century. Surprisingly, a similar rise in modern values was detected as early as the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, coinciding with significant economic development. This era saw an increasing expression of romantic love, open-mindedness, and reciprocal cooperation. However, this shift was not sustained, leading to a significant reassertion of traditional values from the late eighteenth century until the early twentieth century. These findings not only highlight the nuanced dynamics of early modernization beyond Western contexts but also demonstrate that values are dynamic, evolving constantly in response to economic development, thereby challenging the binary distinction between WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic) and non-WEIRD societies.
Shades of empire: Evidence from Swedish and Polish-Lithuanian partitions in the Baltics
Theocharis Grigoriadis & Alise Vitola
Economic History Review, forthcoming
Abstract:
In this study, we explore the long-run effects of Swedish and Polish-Lithuanian imperial legacies in the Baltic region. Using a robust regression discontinuity design, we identify persistent differences in socio-economic development across the South Livonia-Courland and the South Livonia-Lettgallia borders that emerged as a result of the Altmark Truce (1629) between Sweden and Poland-Lithuania. We find that there is a positive post-imperial persistence of the Swedish legacy that explains modern Baltic development. Our results are robust to the RD estimation of the post-1629 Swedish-Swedish border between North Livonia and Estland, the Pale of Settlement, spatial noise, placebo outcomes, and the introduction of a quadratic polynomial, as well as different bandwidths. Higher historical shares of Lutherans, Germans, and landowners may predict higher levels of contemporary socio-economic development in the Swedish partition of South Livonia than in the Polish-Lithuanian partitions of Courland and Lettgallia.
Economic Consequences of Numerical Adaptation
Michele Garagnani & Ferdinand Vieider
Psychological Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Resource constraints in neural information processing imply that numerical discriminability optimally adapts to the frequency of numerical magnitudes in a decision maker's environment. Here, we tested the economic consequences of efficient numerical range adaptation in representative samples of the United Kingdom and Japan (N = 2,309) and in a replication in Austria and Hungary (N = 607). We exploited natural variation in currency units and combined it with an orthogonal variation in experimental currency units to detect the effect of habitual versus nonhabitual numerical ranges on the incidence of errors in decisions under risk. The results highlight the direct economic importance of numerical adaptation, thus calling into question standard assumptions that choice quantities are perceived without noise.
Periods of uncertainty are linked to greater acceptance of minorities
Niclas Berggren, Andreas Bergh & Therese Nilsson
Journal of Comparative Economics, forthcoming
Abstract:
Uncertainty affects people in various ways. It is frequently found to hinder investment and production in the economic sphere. In this study, we examine the empirical relationship between uncertainty and tolerance toward Muslims and Jews. Does uncertainty make people more or less tolerant? This question is particularly relevant given the prevalence of pandemics, wars, and financial crises. We investigate this relationship using the World Uncertainty Index, which measures the frequency of the word "uncertain" (and its variants) in The Economist Intelligence Unit country reports. By analyzing quarterly data from up to 56 countries between 1990 and 2020, we link country-level uncertainty to approximately 227,000 individual responses from the World Values Survey/European Values Study regarding whether respondents would like to have Jews or Muslims as neighbors. Leveraging the precise timing of survey interviews, we relate individual attitudes to prevailing uncertainty levels. Our results indicate a positive relationship between uncertainty and both tolerance indicators. Thus, for those concerned with attitudes toward minorities often subjected to prejudice, calm periods may pose greater risks to tolerance than volatile periods.
Opportunity and necessity entrepreneurship: Do linguistic structures matter?
Nabamita Dutta et al.
Small Business Economics, April 2025, Pages 1981-2012
Abstract:
A rapidly growing literature explores the link between linguistic structures and economic outcomes. The language a speaker uses systematically influences cognition, thinking, and thus behavior. It also influences the form and content of cultural information that is shared through time and generations. We examine how these linguistic structures influence entrepreneurship. Not all forms of entrepreneurship are equally conducive to, nor associated with, economic growth and prosperity. A distinction is often made between necessity entrepreneurship, which is a result of individuals being pushed into self-employment by adverse circumstances, and opportunity entrepreneurship in which individuals choose to pursue promising ideas. We find that countries with languages not dropping personal pronouns in their major spoken language, or those speaking a weak future time reference (FTR) language, have higher proportions of opportunity relative to necessity-driven entrepreneurs, and that this effect is stronger in countries with higher levels of economic freedom.