Do Culture and Religion Matter to Economic Growth?

Abstract

This study offers a different empirical approach to examining the e?ects of culture and religion on economic growth using time series data for the period 1994-2020. I constructed a cultural index through the Principle Component Analysis (PCA) technique to achieve this goal. This study employs seven leading indicators from the World Values Survey (WVS) and the European Values Study (EVS) for cultural development, such as control, trust, respect, obedience, and identity. Further, the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) system estimation was adopted. The findings confirm a significant positive impact of culture and religion on economic growth.