Hade Ayn Rand lite rätt när hon skrev The Virtue of Selfishness? Kan ett individualistiskt samhälle vara bra att leva i? Om det må man tvista, men i vilket fall verkar det vara ett samhälle med högre långsiktigt tillväxt, enligt den nya studien ”Which Dimensions of Culture Matter for Long Run Growth?”:

We present empirical evidence that, among a variety of cultural dimensions, the individualism-collectivism dimension, based on Hofstede’s (2001) data, is the most important and robustly significant effect of culture on long run growth. Other dimensions that have a significant effect, albeit less robust, are generally strongly correlated with individualism and convey similar information. We found no significant or robust effect on growth from cultural dimensions that are independent from the individualism-collectivism cleavage.

Hur mäts då individualism?

The individualism score is the first and most important component in his factor analysis. It measures the extent to which it is believed that individuals are supposed to take care of themselves as opposed to being strongly integrated and loyal to a cohesive group. The individualism component loads positively on valuing individual freedom, opportunity, achievement, advancement, recognition and negatively on valuing harmony, cooperation, relations with superiors. In other words, individuals in countries with a high level of the individualism score value personal freedom and status, while individuals in countries with a low level of the index value harmony and conformity.

Resultatet är i linje med tidigare forskning. En intressant sak är att nationalekonomisk forskning i allt högre grad beaktar kulturella och sociala fenomen som viktiga för att förstå hur en ekonomi fungerar och kan växa.