Is an Anti-Capitalistic Mentality Cultural? The Case of Hungarians Inside and Outside Hungary in the World Values Survey
27 Pages Posted: 15 Nov 2014
Date Written: October 23, 2014
Abstract
Are market friendly views determined culturally? Answering this question is an important step in understanding economic development. The paper focuses on Hungary and Hungarians because the fact that substantial Hungarian minorities live in countries neighbouring Hungary makes it possible to answer the question as to whether it is (Hungarian) culture or the country of residence that is more important in determining anti-market feelings. This paper uses data that can be found in different waves of the World Values Survey, and applies different theories of anti-capitalism to identify possible determinants of the strength of such views, other than culture. The example of Hungarians show that the country one lives in is more important than ethnicity in determining one's views on the market, and the country one lives in is important even if several other determinants of anticapitalism are accounted for.
Keywords: informal institutions, culture, anti-capitalism
JEL Classification: B15, P16, P52
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation