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  • December 2011
  • Article
  • Journal of Financial Economics

Egalitarianism and International Investment

By: Jordan I. Siegel, Amir N. Licht and Shalom H. Schwartz
  • Format:Print
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Abstract

This study identifies the effect of a key cultural dimension—egalitarianism—on a set of international investment outcomes. Egalitarianism expresses a society's cultural orientation with respect to intolerance for abuses of market and political power. We show egalitarianism to be based on exogenous factors including social fractionalization, religion, and war experience. Controlling for a large set of competing explanations, we find a robust influence of egalitarianism distance on cross-border investment flows of equity, debt, and mergers and acquisitions. An informal cultural institution largely determined a century or more ago, egalitarianism influences international investment via an associated set of consistent policy choices made in recent years. But even after controlling for these associated policy choices, egalitarianism continues to exercise a direct effect on cross-border investment flows, likely through its direct influence on managers' daily business conduct.

Keywords

Egalitarianism; International Investment; Culture; Cultural Distance; Foreign Direct Investment; Informal Institutions; Social Institutions; Cross-listing; Investment; Equality and Inequality; Mergers and Acquisitions

Citation

Siegel, Jordan I., Amir N. Licht, and Shalom H. Schwartz. "Egalitarianism and International Investment." Journal of Financial Economics 102, no. 3 (December 2011). (This study identifies the effect of a key cultural dimension - egalitarianism - on a set of international investment outcomes. Egalitarianism expresses a society's cultural orientation with respect to intolerance for abuses of market and political power. We show egalitarianism to be based on exogenous factors including social fractionalization, religion, and war experience. Controlling for a large set of competing explanations, we find a robust influence of egalitarianism distance on cross-border investment flows of equity, debt, and mergers and acquisitions. An informal cultural institution largely determined a century or more ago, egalitarianism influences international investment via an associated set of consistent policy choices made in recent years. But even after controlling for these associated policy choices, egalitarianism continues to exercise a direct effect on cross-border investment flows, likely through its direct influence on managers' daily business conduct.)
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