Ceteris Paribus and Fixed Effects in Regional and Cultural Economics

Abstract

This chapter is inspired by Peter Nijkamp’s contribution “Ceteris Paribus, Spatial Complexity and Spatial Equilibrium” and his original take on the deficiencies of using the ceteris paribus assumption in regional economic modelling. After summarizing Nijkamp’s interpretative perspective of the ceteris paribus assumption within theoretical modelling, I suggest an analytical analogy between the ceteris paribus assumption in theoretical modelling and the use of fixed effects in empirical modelling. I argue that fixed effects have the economic meaning of the ceteris paribus assumption in empirical work and could lead to erroneous implications in empirical results, especially with regard to understanding cultural relativity across space. The chapter illustrates this point through an example focused on religion as one of the most important proxies for culture in the economic literature. The operationalization of the example draws on data from the World Value Survey (WVS) and employs detailed data decomposition and logistic regression analyses. The use of fixed effects is contrasted to precise quantification of cultural interactions, cultural relativity and cultural hysteresis. The chapter shows how significant effects from cultural complexity can be lost or overseen in the interpretative analysis of empirical findings when fixed effects are used in the spirit of the ceteris paribus assumption.