TY  - JOUR
AU  - Sapienza,Paola
AU  - Zingales,Luigi
AU  - Guiso,Luigi
TI  - Does Culture Affect Economic Outcomes?
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 11999
PY  - 2006
Y2  - February 2006
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11999
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w11999.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Paola Sapienza
Kellogg School of Management
Northwestern University
2001 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208
Tel: 847/491-7436
Fax: 847/491-5719
E-Mail: paola-sapienza@northwestern.edu

Luigi Zingales
Booth School of Business
The University of Chicago
5807 S. Woodlawn Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
Tel: 773/702-3196
Fax: 773/834-2081
E-Mail: luigi.zingales@ChicagoBooth.edu

Luigi Guiso
Axa Professor of Household Finance
Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance
Via Sallustiana 62 - 00187
Rome, Italy
Fax: 39 06  4792 4858
E-Mail: luigi.guiso@eief.it
AB  - Economists have been reluctant to rely on culture as a possible determinant of economic phenomena. The notion of culture is so broad and the channels through which it can enter the economic discourse so vague that it is difficult to design testable hypotheses. In this paper we show this does need to be the case. We introduce a narrower definition of culture that allows for a simple methodology to develop and test cultural-based explanations. We also present several applications of this methodology: from the choice to become entrepreneur to that of how much to save, to end with the political decision on income redistribution.
ER  -