The Role of Cultural Attributes in Inequality and Poverty

Leon Zolotoy, Melbourne Business School
Miki Malul, Ben-Gurion University
Amir Shoham, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Abstract

This paper uses cross country data to explore the role of cultural attributes in inequality of income distribution and poverty within countries. Using the Hofstede cultural dimensions, we found that individualism is negatively correlated with the Gini index and poverty ratio. We also found that the lower the status of women in a society, the higher the level of poverty in that society. Furthermore, we found that combing the cultural variables in the analysis significantly improves its ability to explain the differences in inequality and poverty in different countries.